News: The Changing Role of the CMO

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by Jacob Solomon Mar 16, 2023 News
News: The Changing Role of the CMO

The evolution to brand management was the reason for the creation of the CMO role. From the beginning, the primary role was to oversee, protect and develop the brand and there was always a limited means of measuring what that meant. The inability to measure has become more difficult for CMOs in an era of advanced technology. The average tenure of CMOs is historic low. In some instances, the role has been eliminated completely, replaced by roles such as chief growth, digital or experience officer.

David Teicher sat down with some industry CMOs to find out what is driving this shortened lifespan and what can be done to correct it. An executive summary of some of the common themes that emerged in the conversations is provided.

There is a video on this page.

The C-Suite doesn't understand the importance of a brand.

Management and the external market put a lot of pressure on the CMOs. Brand driven work is often overlooked in favor of short-term business goals. The CEO, CFO and shareholders want to see results quickly, and most other functions within a company can measure their performance. The strength of the brand is important for long term success, even though the C-suite may not know it. It is something that you have to take care of. To get it to the next level, you have to live and breathe it. It can be difficult to see the results in 18 months.

CMOs are often on the outside looking in.

Management starts looking for scapegoats when things go wrong, either macroeconomically or just from a category standpoint. The rest of the C-Suite spends more time with one other person than the CMO does. The nature of the CMO's job is to spend more time outside of the company, with partners, consumers, suppliers, etc... This is a recipe for disaster and the first to get clipped is the CMO.

They have to increase their skill sets.

Being a great marketer used to be dependent on being well versed in consumer psychology, design, and big ideas. Technology and data are more important today than they were in the past. Many long time marketers are finding themselves out of their element.

You can't measure what you can't see.

Each leader is asked for proof of their performance. You can show performance marketing figures, but brand results are more difficult to show. If the CEO doesn't have a background in marketing, he's likely to see the CMO as lagging behind.

There are dramatic changes in marketing.

The marketing function has probably seen the most changes over the last 10 years. In the past, the biggest responsibility of a CMO might have been advertising, promotion, etc., but today they are expected to grow the business, build the brand, modernize and automate the tools, provide a great omnichannel customer experience, lead large teams, and still be a brilliant marketer who The responsibilities of a CMO have changed more than any other role.

What should marketers do now?

  1. Speak the language of the business: Marketers often talk the language of brand or advertising, but it’s critical that they speak the language of the business. Talking about brand attributes or “engagement rates” won’t impress the CFO if the business isn’t doing well. CMOs have to train themselves not just in understanding conceptually what the business is, but to understand exactly how the business makes money, and then align with the CFO about what marketing can do to support the company’s financial goals. 
  1. Get alignment upfront from the rest of the C-Suite on what you will and won’t be responsible for. Help them understand how all the things you’re working on come together and fulfill both the short- and longer-term goals of the company.  
  1. Push the marketing trade associations like the ANA, to start doing outreach to CEOs and CFOs and educate them on what marketing is and how critical it is for the long-term health and future of their company. They should demonstrate how great marketing has and is driving other businesses.
  1. Build modern skills and be in lock step with the CTO/CIO of the company. A CMO today must be able to drive efficiencies through automation internally and be able to have the data and tech stacks in place to drive personalization for consumers. CMOs should build their skills, but that alone won't help them accomplish what they need to. They must have the support/partnership of the tech leads in the company and/or have a senior marketing technology lead on their leadership team. 
  1. CMOs must have accountability for both “sales overnight and brand overtime.”  While cultivating and growing their brands are critical, they need to make sure they are holding themselves accountable to the business as well. They must allow for both things: growing sales and nurture the brand. It is also equally as important, to ensure they are appropriately managing that dual narrative, with their leadership team and peers. They need to make sure the c-suite understands that all of this will take longer than 18 months.