3. The Evolution of the CMO
Over the past 25 years, the role of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) has changed dramatically, driven by changes in technology, consumer behaviour, and the business environment. To begin with, CMOs focused on traditional marketing channels, such as print, television, and radio advertising, with an emphasis on broad-based marketing strategies to reach large audiences. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, they were leaning into the digital revolution, which transformed the marketing landscape. Two decades on, digital channels, email marketing, SEO, and a range of social media networks are key areas, and change in marketing has become the new normal. CMOs must be on top of these changes and ready to adapt.
But much about the CMO’s role hasn’t changed, says Scott Horn. ‘To be a CMO, you still need to have a pretty broad-based background. I've worked in pretty much every marketing role at some point. It means I’m able to coach my team. What does “good” look like from a product positioning or messaging point of view? When are we doing a press release? Partner enablement, sales deck, sales pitch deck. And the way you come to see what “good” work is across the board is by doing the work.’
But it’s the CMO or lead communicators' soft skills that make them indispensable at C-suite level, Heather Vana believes – especially during times of global upheaval. ‘Those skills have historically made us invaluable at the top level,’ she says. ‘Good judgement, the ability to understand and synthesise data and insights about an audience, and also those gut feelings about "should we do this?" Or should we not do this?". These are very important abilities today. The way that communications experts and CMOs understand cultural markers and the cultural significance of the moves that companies make is also going to be so precious. In the next few years, we’re going to see real changes.’
One of those changes could be the retirement of the title of CMO. ‘I don’t think CMO does justice to what the role will require in a few years,’ says Ian Ferguson. ‘CMOs will do more. They’ll also be accountable for more. After Enron, CFOs had to become accountable for the company's books. We’ve seen CEOs held accountable for fraud. And new roles are coming up: CCO for Chief Cybersecurity Officer, for example.’
Whether the CMO title remains, Omer Wilson agrees that the role will get more and more significant in the years to come. ‘CMOs will become more central,’ he says. ‘I think there's also going to be a focus on marketing technology. They’ll be really important on the board.’
