The True Evolution Of The CMO Role

Happy Friday Leaders. We hope you’ve had a good week.

This Week Something New  

In the conversation filmed on the 7th of May, Harry and I discussed the evolving role of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) in today's business landscape.

Watch/Listen To The Podcast ⏯️

We explored

• The historical context of the CMO title and why I keynoted a Marketing Conference in 2019 with RIP To The CMO Role - here’s the deck 

• The challenges faced by modern CMOs & how to address it

• The lost art of communication and building relationships within the C-suite (in what I call and wrote about PQ)

• The impact of AI on marketing strategies.

Our discussion also emphasises the need:

• For CMOs to adapt to the changing environments

• To educate their peers, not just during forecasting and reforecasting season

• To go beyond maintaining a balance between brand and performance marketing - repeat after me, it’s always AND not OR

• To learn from our C-Suite peers

We make key recommendations for aspiring CMOs on how to focus on becoming an executive, not just a department leader and we recommend the importance of confidence, communication, and continuous personal evolution in the marketing field that doesn’t stop.

Harry is classically Harry, so I can only recommend hearing Harry’s takes, especially what he had to say about the Chief Market Officer role, CFOs and spreadsheets and some of the things he has been guilty of in the past.

I also teased two important conversations with friends of Marketing Unfiltered:

1. With Carl Hendy from audits.com on the future of SEO, AI and how AI is going to impact search.

2. With Chris Hutchings from it better go bang on content, marketing content effectively in 2025+ and why so many brands are scared of creating great content.

We will be sharing in the coming weeks.

So grab your beverage of choice and join Harry and I diving into everything CMO

The Key Takeaways  

• The CMO title has evolved significantly over the years and will continue to.

• Modern CMOs face challenges due to the increasing complexity of marketing channels and we have to own these or lose them.

• Communication and relationships with other C-suite executives are crucial for success. Start investing your time strategically.

• Stating the obvious isn’t enough: Brand marketing takes longer to show results compared to performance marketing, we all know the focus is on performance but to be removed from the Brand CMO being replaced by the Performance CMO and then replaced by Brand CMO cycle you have to learn into both and lead stop asking for permission.

• Every company has unique needs that influence the CMO's role - the CMO has to own this and influence positively.

• Continuous education is essential for CMOs to influence decision-making.

• Confidence in your marketing plans is vital for gaining support from leadership - you have to educate as you go, not just at the budget level.

• AI is becoming an integral part of marketing strategies - so it’s time to get onboard, learn the tools and adapt the tools to your needs and problems needing solving. Bring your team and internal experts into the conversations and coach those around them

• CMOs must learn to navigate the complexities of organisational design - not just hiring for skill gaps and for the next 6 months.

• Aspiring CMOs should focus on evolving their skills and understanding the business.

Useful posts we mention in the podcast:

If you prefer to read rather than watch/listen the full transcription is available here.

Go and have a great weekend, and we will see you next week.

Thanks,

Danny Denhard and Harry Lang