Karen Tran

Principal Analyst

Forrester Bio

Author Insights

Blog

B2B Brand Safety Must Transcend Digital Boundaries

Karen Tran March 24, 2025
Companies’ reputations aren’t just built (or destroyed) online. Marketing leaders must stay mindful of the vast ecosystem influencing their brand’s reputation.
Blog

Reorg Ready: How Leaders Can Communicate Through Organizational Transformations

Rani Salehi March 4, 2025
Learn how B2B leaders can mitigate the risks inherent in reorganizations and foster a sense of stability and confidence.
Blog

Be Swift, Be Accurate, Be Empathetic: Three Pillars For Crisis Communications

Karen Tran February 13, 2025
The 2024 CrowdStrike software incident reinforced the importance of three key pillars for crisis communications. While CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz issued a specific, fact-based statement within hours of learning that there was a major outage caused by a bad software update, he faced criticism for not immediately offering an apology. Crises are never convenient and […]
Blog

Deepfakes: The Hidden Threat CMOs Can’t Ignore

Karen Tran January 31, 2025
Deepfakes are not just a distant threat; they are a present danger with the potential for long-lasting repercussions. Marketing leaders must understand how to mitigate the risks.
Blog

The Unifying Power Of Rebranding: HCLTech’s Strategic Transformation

Karen Tran January 16, 2025
Get an inside look at how the winner of Forrester’s 2024 B2B Program Of The Year drove a 15.9% year-over-year increase in brand value and a 75% lift in brand recall.
Blog

No Clickbait Here — LinkedIn Is Clearly King Of B2B Social Media

Karen Tran October 21, 2024
Forrester’s 2024 B2B Brand And Communications Survey sheds light on marketing leaders' social preferences and strategies, including where the other major platforms fit in.
Blog

2024 Could Be A Good Year For B2B Agencies

Karen Tran August 6, 2024
Recent survey data reveals plans for a net increase in agency spending across all industries and company sizes. Learn more about what to expect.
Blog

B2B Marketers Prioritize Digital Brand And Communications Budget Investments

Karen Tran August 6, 2024
In Forrester’s 2024 B2B Brand And Communications Survey, we asked B2B marketing leaders to share their perspective on anticipated budget changes in 12 program and personnel categories. This year’s responses show expected increases are up in most categories over last year and expected decreases have dropped in most categories. Several notable trends emerged, shedding light […]
Blog

Don’t Wait For A Crisis To Act

Ian Bruce July 23, 2024
CrowdStrike's recent global incident underscores businesses' need to have robust crisis communication plans in place before a crisis occurs.
Blog

Brand Is A Long Game: The Tangible Value Of B2B Brand Investments

Karen Tran May 3, 2024
Brand investments are like retirement investments. The idea is to invest regularly and consistently starting as early as possible, knowing that by the time retirement hits, the value will have accrued over time and the investments will have compounding returns. When we begin the uphill climb of investing, the returns may feel modest. It’s difficult […]
Blog

Why Brand And Reputation Programs Should Be More Than Just Air Cover

Karen Tran April 10, 2024
There’s more to planning and executing reputation programs than what we typically see at the usual “air cover” level. Learn more about the Forrester Reputation Program Decision Model in this preview of B2B Summit North America.
Blog

Announcing Forrester’s B2B Program Of The Year Award Winners For North America

Cristina De Martini April 4, 2024
Get ready to be inspired by these best-practice program implementations across B2B marketing, sales, and product. We reveal which eight companies will be honored at B2B Summit North America in May.
Blog

B2B CMOs: What’s Your Role In The Employee Value Proposition?

Karen Tran November 7, 2023
Too often, CMOs are absent from the EVP process because it doesn’t focus on buyers and customers. That's a mistake.
Blog

Brand Investments Are Up But Maybe Not Where You Think

Karen Tran August 14, 2023
Website/digital shows the biggest gains across both programs and headcount, continuing a long-running trend toward a digital-first investment strategy.
Blog

Resist Short-Termism To Avoid Brand Budget Cuts

Karen Tran March 2, 2023
High-growth companies see brand activation as a vital part of their strategy — even in economic uncertainty. Here are some of the ways that these organizations prioritize it.
Blog

High-Growth B2B Businesses Invest In Brand When Facing Economic Uncertainty

Karen Tran October 3, 2022
Whichever side of the recession debate you’re on, what’s clear is that there is economic uncertainty. On the heels of the “great resignation,” where people were leaving jobs in search of better pay, more flexibility, and increased job satisfaction, we’re now seeing hiring freezes at some companies. This doesn’t mean that every company will cut […]
Blog

Can B2B CMOs Save The Planet, Too?

Karen Tran September 26, 2022
Companies' pledges to become more sustainable are encouraging — if they translate into action. Marketing leaders must work to ensure that messaging aligns with action and purpose.
Blog

Oh, How I Love Thee — Brand Preference Measurement Goes Deeper Than Awareness

Karen Tran September 12, 2022
Before launching programs to improve brand health, you need to understand the sentiments and associations of your brand in the market and where your brand stands in terms of preference.
Blog

B2B Summit North America: It’s Good To Be Back

Karen Tran May 10, 2022
Forrester’s B2B Summit North America drew thousands of marketing, sales, and product leaders for three days of data-driven learning and discussions that invigorated and inspired.