Top Story

• HP becomes first company with 1 million LinkedIn followers
  Hewlett-Packard has become the first company to reach 1 million followers on LinkedIn, the social network announced Thursday. HP boosted its numbers by positioning CEO Meg Whitman as a thought leader and by using LinkedIn Follow ads, according to LinkedIn Vice President of Marketing Nick Besbeas. The company says that a quarter of LinkedIn's 200 million users are connected with someone who follows HP. MediaPost Communications/Online Media Daily (2/28), Mashable (2/28)     

Eye on Marketing

• Avaya's Mark Wilson explains the keys to "narrowcasting"
  Narrowcasting involves targeting select groups of decision-makers and their influencers, says Avaya's Mark Wilson in this interview. "[N]arrowcasting helps marketers get rid of content spillage. Money that used to be spent reaching a broad audience is now better spent communicating more frequently with a narrow target audience," Wilson says. Content Marketing Institute (2/28)     

• CMOs often lack C-suite support, survey suggests
  The biggest reason that chief marketing officers get let go is that they fail to receive support from the rest of the C-suite when pursuing organizational changes, indicates a Korn/Ferry survey. "CMOs are hired to drive a change agenda, which is great, but they are not always fully supported," said Caren Fleit, a senior client partner at Korn/Ferry. "And one person is not enough to drive change." Brafton.com (2/28)     

• The dangers of buying e-mail lists for marketing
  Buying an e-mail list to market to strangers is a losing tactic in the long run, writes Meghan Keaney Anderson. Not only will it damage your sender score, it could even get you blacklisted from potential customers. A better approach is to start a relevant, search-friendly and content-rich blog that draws people in and encourages them to sign up for e-mails. MarketingProfs (2/28)     

Tech Edge

• Facebook's Atlas buy opens door for wider ad network, analysts say
  Facebook has announced that it will buy the Atlas Advertiser Suite from Microsoft. The move will allow Facebook to sell "sponsorships, in-stream ads and other rich ad formats across the entire Web," Forrester analyst Nate Elliott says. "This is about building out the next generation of advertising tools," says Brian Boland, Facebook's director of monetization product marketing. Reuters (2/28), The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/Bits blog (2/28), The Wall Street Journal (2/28)     

• For SMB lead generation, Twitter is king of social media
  More than half of all social network visits are to Facebook, compared with about a third of all visits heading to Twitter, according to an Optify survey of small- to medium-sized businesses using social networks for business-to-business sales. Twitter accounts for more than 4 in 5 leads attributable to social networks; however, 9% each for Facebook and LinkedIn. Social media accounts for a relatively small part of traffic referrals, amounting to 1.9% of total traffic, compared with organic and direct sources, which each bring in more than 40% of all hits. eMarketer (2/28)     

Innovation

• You can't innovate through meetings
  Brainstorming sessions are a lousy way to try to solve complicated problems, writes Debra Kaye. "Fresh ideas come when your brain is relaxed and engaged in something other than the particular problem you're embroiled in. ... This is the polar opposite of what happens in brainstorming sessions," she explains. Fast Company online (2/28)     

• Leading your company through positive change
  Positioning a good business to be even better requires going beyond setting up the right structure, Robert S. Olszewski says. He advises companies to evaluate how they can cut waste in seven key areas, identify their sustainable competitive advantage and disrupt routines. "Companies that can clearly demonstrate why and how the change will have a positive impact, leading to dissatisfaction, have a higher probability of effective change," he says. Smart Business/Philadelphia (2/2013)     

Association News

• BMA St. Louis Chapter -- Event -- Ignite Networking Night
  This event will be held Thursday, March 7, from 5 to 7:30 p.m., at the Sheraton Clayton Plaza, 7730 Bonhomme Ave., St. Louis, for a night of kindling your B2B marketing connections with a networking event. Read more.     

• Video -- Chairman Conrado: Advancing your B2B marketing career
  If business-to-business marketing worked like consumer marketing, you wouldn't need us. Eduardo Conrado, BMA Chairman and SVP/CMO for Motorola Solutions, shares why joining BMA is instrumental in advancing in your career in B2B marketing. View the video.     

On Leadership

Top five news stories from SmartBrief on Leadership this week. Want more leadership news?

• How to be a horrible boss (CNNMoney/Fortune)

• 8 ways to sabotage your negotiations (SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Leadership)

• Does your company show it values talent? (Career Advancement Blog)

• The argument against Yahoo's work-from-home policy (Inc. online (free registration))

• Welcome to management -- here's how to get started (Fast Company online)

SmartQuote

The mark of mediocrity is to look for precedent." --Norman Mailer, American writer