Fixing the CMO Problem

The tenure for Chief Marketing Officers is shorter than ever, a brief 23.2 months according to Spencer’s Stuart’s new study.

Marketing is one of the most important corporate functions as it’s responsible for attracting and satisfying the customer. So what’s the fix to the revolving door? Some thoughts…

Give marketing authority over all those activities that affect a customer’s experience with the company/brand — including sales, product development, customer service, front line employee hiring and training, channel partners. If marketing is primarily foucsed on marketing communications — advertising, promotions, pr, etc. — it’s bound to fail. Branding is about what we do, not what we say. At last week’s Innovative Marketing Conference, Gwen Ishmael of Decision Analyst said she’s seen this model work at two successful companies and wonders why more companies don’t use this model.

Restructure the marketing organization: for those who aren’t ready to make the dramatic organizational changes in #1, think about this: eliminate all the different siloed departments and focus on three essential functions — customer and market insights, strategy, and communications.

Think of the CMO as more of a COO of the marketing organization, and less of a manager of the advertising agency or the “brand steward.” Leadership and innovation skills are more critical than traditional marketing experience. In fact, someone who has 20 years of marketing experience may be a liability because they may be too wed to old marketing pricnicples, like TV advertisiing and oversimplified brand promises.

Create new metrics for measurement. Reducing costs to get a better ROI may be the absolute wrong thing to do because it may affect the value you provide to customers. Similarly, increased sales or market share may be the goal, but what are the components needed to achieve those goals? What is the purpose of those components in helping to achieve sales or market share? Are those purposes realistic? How do we assess the performance of those components in ways that not only measures but provides insights for what to do differently?

Rotate the other C level positions into running marketing for 23.2 months so they understand the challenges and can help create innovative ways to run marketing — or set more realistic expectations for success.

CMO turnover