Hi, I'm John Balla - I co-founded the SAS Customer Intelligence blog and served as Editor for five years. I held a number of marketing roles at SAS as Content Strategist, Industry Field Marketing and as Go-to-Marketing Lead for our Customer Intelligence Solutions. I like to find and share content and experiences that open doors, answer questions, and sometimes challenge assumptions so better questions can be asked. Outside of work I am an avid downhill snow skier, hiker and beach enthusiast. I stay busy with my family, volunteering for civic causes, keeping my garden green, striving for green living, expressing myself with puns, and making my own café con leche every morning. I’ve lived and worked on 3 contents and can communicate fluently in Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian and get by with passable English. Prior to SAS, my experience in marketing ranges from Fortune 100 companies to co-founding two start ups. I studied economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and got an MBA from Georgetown. Follow me on Twitter. Connect with me on LinkedIn.
One interesting outcome of regulatory reform in health care is seeing the use of the word "customer" filter into the dialogue in the industry. The context for that development in the United States’ health care industry is upheaval not seen in any sector of the economy since the government-mandated breakup
According to The DMA, no single channel can win out anymore because today, it’s about being wherever customers are, giving them relevant messages, and making sure that each interaction is intelligently connected to the next. All that means delivering great customer experience across any and every channel: web, social, mobile,
Integrated marketing is no longer optional - no single channel can win out any more. Marketers must deliver great customer experience through truly integrated marketing, across any and every channel: web, social, mobile, broadcast, email, in-store, outdoor and beyond. Those experiences can be tailored effectively by listening to the voice
Integrated marketing is not a mere discipline, or an approach to marketing. It's a description of the mindset necessary for marketers to rise to the challenges of empowered customers, regulatory change and technological evolution that includes big data. That was a recurring theme in this week's Integrated Marketing Week conference by the
We live in a world where chaos is increasingly the norm. And human nature when faced with chaos normally triggers a protective reaction - it could be a retreat, "circling the wagons," or other moves to preserve and protect. It's understandable, but in the world of business that reaction may also translate
The health and life sciences industries affect all other industries on two levels – our employers and governments are heavily involved as influencers in payment systems, and as individuals we all engage directly with health care organizations. Because of those two reasons, people in all industries have a stake in
Have you ever worked on a jigsaw puzzle? You have hundreds of pieces to painstakingly put together and somehow at the end it all fits to make a beautiful picture. Some people love the challenge and others could think of few things more painful. Either way, a jigsaw puzzle is
Customer experience management is not a new concept, but it garners a lot of attention for one very good reason - it really matters. As typical consumers now have greater access to goods, services and information than ever before, it's never been more critical to differentiate. And for business models more complex
It’s hard to overstate the important of context. It provides clues when you are looking for answers, it provides texture and nuance to a story you might be telling, and it provides meaning to what might otherwise be random facts by revealing the connections between them. In the case of
I just read another headline about Pope Francis doing something controversial and it struck me how effectively he’s been able to lead the Catholic Church in just over a year. Without question, he exercises leadership by virtue of his position, but most of his actions hold valuable leadership lessons for
