Matt Johnston, CMO, uTest

“E-commerce is incredibly important to uTest's 2012 marketing strategy—not just because retailers are one of our largest customer segments (uTest is a Web and mobile app testing company), but because every brand is now an e-tailer on some level. You may be selling merchandise, services or content; or you may be selling something more ethereal. But make no mistake, you are a retailer. And, thus, you must manage your entire digital user experience (website, mobile site, iOS app, Android app, etc.) like an e-commerce company. In 2012, marketing execs should be testing and optimizing their online experience like top e-tailers. This includes mastering conversion-driven activities like targeted merchandising, sophisticated site personalization, intelligent lead nurturing and causal path analysis.”

Al Maag, chief communications officer, Avnet

“E-commerce plays a central role in Avnet's marketing plans for 2012, because it is vital to our $16 billion business in global components. It is one of five market focus areas for components revenue and profit growth. For Avnet, e-commerce is about meeting the needs of customers on their schedule. If an engineer is working on a design in the middle of the night and needs to purchase a handful of parts to complete his or her design—he or she can. This year, we did three unique things to position our offering. First, Avnet's e-commerce engine, Avnet Express, is now in all three regions of the world with their inventory. Prior to that, each competitor had their stock in only one region ... so, at times, information was misleading and/or took longer to deliver. Second, Avnet is sponsoring the "Drive for Innovation," a program that highlights electronics-engineering innovation across America, while underscoring our efforts to spur that creativity. And last, we just added an embedded software store with ARM technology.”