Thom Gruhler, who most recently spent four years as Microsoft’s chief marketing officer, has founded his own analytics-focused marketing firm that aims to use big data and predictive analytics to aid brands and marketers.
He is co-founding the firm with another Microsoft vet, Paulo Resende.
From GeekWire:
The idea is to help CMOs and brands improve their marketing strategies and customer outreach by leveraging big data, predictive analytics, and automation. Gruhler said there is a “huge missed opportunity” for brands and marketers who aren’t spending enough time analyzing data about their current and potential new customers.
“Today, customer experience is the new brand, and winning requires data — the more, the better,” Gruhler told GeekWire. “And yet identifying the right data to model, predict, and improve customer experience is one of the toughest challenges facing CMOs and marketers today.”
Gruhler said he co-founded Fjuri after his experiences at Microsoft, where he helped build a modern marketing team for a global software-as-a-service business. He faced challenges working with IT, engineering, and marketing teams to apply data that could improve customer experience and design. While working with agencies, he noted that many were not equipped to guide transformation at the enterprise level; larger consultancies, meanwhile, did not have an adequate on-the-ground approach.