Welcome to Matter’s Customer Experience 20 list, or ‘CX 20’. Each quarter, we’ll highlight the market’s top 20 thought leaders who are advancing CX knowledge, news and best practices across various industries – from retail and logistics to advertising and more.
To compile each list, we’ll examine prominent and impactful CX-focused reporters, analysts and influencers. Each honoree is not only a CX expert, but leverages their personal platform(s) drive CX thought leadership and conversations – whether in their own organization or for their readers, clients and/or sector.
Today, we’re announcing our top 10 CX reporters for Q3 2021. These reporters and their columns, podcasts and/or social media channels are our go-to resources for the latest and greatest CX trends, strategies and priorities.
The past two years have been profound and transformational for CX across all industries. From the pandemic to remote work, prioritization of strategies, processes and technologies that enhance the digital customer experience and loyalty are a prime focus. As such, there was no shortage of CX topics for this group to report on and share with their readers and listeners at home.
Ann-Marie Alcántara
Reporter | The Wall Street Journal | @itstheannmarie | 6.4k Followers
Bio: Ann-Marie is a reporter for The Experience Report at The Wall Street Journal where she covers CX, UX, UI, design, and accessibility. She was previously a retail reporter at Adweek, covering the rise of direct-to-consumer brands and e-commerce, and before that, she was at POPSUGAR covering internet culture, apps, and gadgets.
Good read: How the Rules of Political Engagement Have Changed for Brands
Blake Morgan
Customer Experience Futurist, Author, Keynote Speaker, and Contributor | Forbes, Harvard Business Review and Hemispheres Magazine | @BlakeMichelleM | 12.8k Followers
Bio: Blake is a customer experience futurist and the author of two books on customer experience. Her bestselling second book, “The Customer Of The Future: 10 Guiding Principles For Winning Tomorrow’s Business,” (HarperCollins), was identified by Business Insider as one of the top 20 books executives are reading to deal with COVID-19 and in 2021 the book won a top 5 spot on Book Authority’s list of the “Top 100 Future Of Technology Books of All-Time.” Blake was named one of the top 40 female keynote speakers for 2020 by Real Leaders Magazine, and is the host of The Modern Customer Podcast and The Be Your Own Boss Podcast.
Good read: Lessons From 10 Customer-Focused Leaders
Bob Thompson
Founder/Editor-In-Chief | CustomerThink.com | @Bob_Thompson | 9.4k Followers
Bio: Bob is Founder/Editor-in-Chief of CustomerThink.com, the world’s largest community dedicated to customer-centric business, and the CEO of CustomerThink Corp., an independent research and publishing firm focused on customer-centric business management. Thompson is a popular international keynote speaker, blogger and author of “Hooked On Customers: The Five Habits of Legendary Customer-Centric Companies.”
Good read: Secrets of Customer-Centric Success — Interview with Jeff Puritt, CEO of TELUS International
Dom Nicastro
Senior Reporter | CMSWire | @DomNicastro | 5k Followers
Bio: Dom is a Boston-based senior reporter at Simpler Media Group, publisher of CMSWire and Reworked. His beat is customer experience, digital marketing, digital workplace, and the employee experience. He is also the co-host of the CX Decoded Podcast, focused on the technologies, people and practices defining the next generation of digital customer experiences.
Good read: The Key Principles of Governance in the Digital Workplace
Don Fluckinger
Senior News Writer | TechTarget | @DonFluckinger | 5.4K Followers
Bio: Don writes about CX management and its enabling technologies (CRM, service/support, marketing automation, sales automation, e-commerce, call center and digital experience) for SearchCustomerExperience. He also covers content services platforms and their allied systems for SearchContentManagement. His previous articles appeared in publications and websites including SearchHealthIT, Ziff Davis’s PDFzone.com, Briefings on Hospital Safety, The Boston Globe, Billboard and Antiques Roadshow Insider.
Good read: Post-pandemic digital customer experience: What will change?
Kimeko McCoy
Marketing Reporter | Digiday | @KimekoM | 6K Followers
Bio: Kimeko recently joined Digiday from Warner Media where she was a digital marketing specialist. Prior to that, she served as Adweek’s social editor and produced editorial content for papers like The Atlanta-Journal Constitution and The St. Augustine Record. Her coverage focuses on media/ad buying, marketing strategy, and industry trends.
Lauren Thomas
Retail and Real Estate Reporter | CNBC | @laurenthomas | 17.5K Followers
Bio: Lauren is based in New York and covers retail and retail real estate. She joined CNBC in January 2017 after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied Business Journalism and Spanish. Lauren was named a LinkedIn Top Voices in Retail in 2018 and was a moderator at this year’s NRF.
Good read: Lines between men’s and women’s fashion are blurring as more retailers embrace gender-fluid look
Lisa Lacy
Commerce Editor | Adweek | @lisalacy | 3.5K Followers
Bio: Lisa is Adweek‘s Commerce Editor where she focuses on retail and the growing reach of Amazon. She has covered marketing and technology for more than a decade for publications like TechCrunch, CMO.com, VentureBeat, The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, ClickZ and Search Engine Watch. She has a master’s in journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor’s in English from the University of Sussex in Brighton, England.
Good read: Prime Day Proves Pandemic-Weary Shoppers Are Eager to Treat Themselves
Michael Krigsman
Columnist, Publisher | CXOTalk, ZDNet | @mkrigsman| 32.7K Followers
Bio: Michael is the founder of CXOTalk, which brings together top business leaders for in-depth conversation about leadership, innovation, and digital disruption. He is recognized internationally as an industry analyst focused on innovation and disruption in the enterprise. As a columnist for ZDNet, he has written over 1,000 articles on CXO thought leadership. His work has been mentioned about 1,000 times in major newspapers, television, radio, trade publications, presentations, academic dissertations, blogs, and other media. Michael has been quoted in about 50 books, published in the Wall Street Journal, and is syndicated on important technology websites.
Good listen: Zoom CEO Eric S. Yuan: How to Manage Customer Experience?
Micah Solomon
Contributor, customer experience consultant, customer service keynote speaker & webinar host | Forbes | @micahsolomon | 10.5K Followers
Bio: Micah is a customer service consultant, customer service speaker, keynote speaker, author, Senior Contributor to Forbes, customer experience consultant, and influencer on customer service, the customer experience, and corporate culture. He is the bestselling author of four books. As a senior contributor to Forbes, Micah specializes in customer service, customer experience, company culture, and hospitality.
Good read: The 3 Customer Service Training Imperatives, Post-Covid, At Your Business Today