CMOs and the C-suite—how to lead a growth agenda and win over skeptics

Do CEOs and chief marketing offices see eye-to-eye in charting company growth? Evidently not given the slew of recent chief marketing officer exits from Fortune 500 companies such as UPS, Walgreens and Etsy—all of which have combined the CMO job with other C-suite roles or eliminated it altogether. They join a growing list of corporations—including Hyatt Hotels, Uber and Johnson & Johnson—that have cut the CMO role in the past few years. When done well, marketing is the single biggest growth lever for a company and great CEOs value growth as much or more than anything else. So, why is there such a significant gap between how CMOs demonstrate marketing’s impact on a company’s growth and how CEOs perceive it? Removing CMOs altogether should alarm the entire marketing profession and be a call to action to better create and demonstrate value. Here are three strategies to restore CMOs’ C-suite status. Break down the root cause Only 10 percent of CEOs at Fortune 250 companies worked in marketing. This means many CEOs start at ground zero in understanding how marketing converts into business growth. There is a fine line between talking down to a CEO and properly educating one. CMOs must effectively walk that line so CEOs can connect how marketing results reliably lead to certain outcomes. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Most often, the communication gap starts and ends with measurement. “Wait. Brand marketing does one thing but performance marketing does another? How do they connect?” Relying on old maxims is no longer enough, and CMOs must connect every dot. CMOs can use data science and analytics to demonstrate the validity of measurement and prediction that good chief financial officers will embrace. CFOs must see marketing withstand the same challenges and scrutiny applied to any other investment. It’s okay for CMOs to explain that brand campaigns have lagging effects and contribute more to the baseline of a media mix modeling output than to direct customer acquisition. It’s only OK, though, if that can be quantified and accurately forecast. Another CMO challenge is experimenting with new marketing trends while avoiding the appearance of being non-strategic and distracted. CMOs who debate the subtleties of marketing and shift focus from one shiny object to the next lose the confidence of C-suite peers. Instead, they should be laser-focused on the company’s business goals, strategies that drive ROI and effectively measuring and communicating success in the same way every other C-suite member does. The chief human resources officer who says, “you can’t really measure your investment in people,” won’t last long. The COO who says, “you can’t really measure your investment in process improvement” won’t last long, either. CMOs must measure and communicate to the same standard to which the rest of the C-suite is held. Implement the academics of marketing CMOs need to know the academics of marketing and what makes brands grow, but the real power is being able to implement these academics. This includes understanding how mental and physical availability, premium-above-generic and personality congruence (just to name a few) are measured and influence each other. Imagine a psychologist who hasn’t bothered to read Freud or Jung. It shocks me how many brand marketers have not read Gerald Zaltman, Robert Cialdini, Daniel Kahneman or Les Binet and Peter Fields. Without these fundamentals, marketers often find themselves in a flurry of self-referencing excuses: “We have to remember, our brand awareness isn’t where we need it to be. Even if it was, we couldn’t afford strong reach and frequency.” “Was our product fully stocked at all major retailers? “It’s hard to quantify the impact of that private label launch two months ago as we don’t have the data yet.” This can—and sometimes does—go on forever, chipping away at the CEO’s confidence that marketing can stand up to other disciplines in delivering value. The modern marketer must run experiments, isolate variables and answer these questions. They must know the academics of our profession to avoid re-testing that which is already known. They must translate the results of their experiments into clear and thoughtful insights that show the C-Suite where the problems lie and how to fix them. Not only will this help marketers communicate more effectively to the C-Suite, but it will also aid in driving sales, improving campaign performance and connecting with customers. Upskill to improve performance and increase value The marketing industry doesn’t look the same as it did five years ago—and sometimes five months ago. Upskilling, whether with the latest in martech, data or AI, is essential for CMOs to improve marketing performance and increase the value of what they bring to the table. CMOs are at a pivotal moment and must embrace the scientific transformation that will radically alter the industry over the next five years. The industry is on track to be driven by science, testing and algorithms. This has happened to countless industries over time and is now coming to marketing. Those who will rise to the top are engaging, upskilling and building these competencies now. There’s no doubt the CMO role is often misunderstood and the power of marketing is underestimated. However, the success of any CMO all boils down to this: Being able to achieve profitable growth for the brand and effectively communicate using the C-suite’s language how every dollar invested in marketing was better spent in marketing than anywhere else. CMOs can earn the trust of their peers, boss, and board by having concrete answers to questions such as, “What would happen if we raised our brand awareness by 5 points?” It’s up to marketers to meet the rest of the C-suite where they are and show the value of their work in a way that hits home. Sign up for Ad Age newsletters From influencer marketing to agencies, get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox Click here

CMOs and the C-suite—how to lead a growth agenda and win over skeptics

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