Marketing is about survival in a jungle that has no mercy, particularly for members of one of the least understood clans in the corporate world.
If you play the game well, you’ll get additional opportunities. Many companies now have Chief Revenue Officers, which formally combine sales and marketing. You could eventually get IT: Gartner research VP Laura McLellan* predicts that by 2017 CMOs will spend more on IT than CIOs. And you might even have a shot at the top position, as did James White who become the CEO Jamba Juice.
Based on interviews and research, those who just focus on "marketing" are less likely to succeed. The successful CMO needs to think act like the CEO of a business – your business is the business of "understanding, attracting, and keeping valuable customers."** You need to become the CEO of Marketing™.
No longer will your success be judged on your individual performance; it will be judged on the results of the marketing organization. You’ll need to motivate your team your team to deliver the results the organization needs. And members of this team will be far more expert in their fields than you’ll ever be.
You need to rapidly assess the current business environment, review current initiatives, determine which new ones are required and evaluate and recruit personnel.
You’ll need to manage across the organization: building the confidence of senior leaders who don’t always understand exactly what marketing does (though that won’t stop them from having opinions or offering advice!).
And, perhaps most importantly, you’ll need to manage upward, to the CEO and board of directors of the organization. Simply producing another report or launching a successful ad campaign, while necessary, is not sufficient. You need to create the vision, and get others to buy into it.
Just like the company CEO.
Breathtaking, isn't it?
___
In future posts, you’ll find tips from CMOs who've survived and thrived, as well as some who didn't fare as well. You’ll read what others have done at critical points of their careers.
Next: What do CMOs Actually Do?
*“By 2017 the CMO will spend more on IT than the CIO,” January 3, 2012.
**Day, George, The Market-Driven Organization,” The Free Press, 1999
If you play the game well, you’ll get additional opportunities. Many companies now have Chief Revenue Officers, which formally combine sales and marketing. You could eventually get IT: Gartner research VP Laura McLellan* predicts that by 2017 CMOs will spend more on IT than CIOs. And you might even have a shot at the top position, as did James White who become the CEO Jamba Juice.
Based on interviews and research, those who just focus on "marketing" are less likely to succeed. The successful CMO needs to think act like the CEO of a business – your business is the business of "understanding, attracting, and keeping valuable customers."** You need to become the CEO of Marketing™.
No longer will your success be judged on your individual performance; it will be judged on the results of the marketing organization. You’ll need to motivate your team your team to deliver the results the organization needs. And members of this team will be far more expert in their fields than you’ll ever be.
You need to rapidly assess the current business environment, review current initiatives, determine which new ones are required and evaluate and recruit personnel.
You’ll need to manage across the organization: building the confidence of senior leaders who don’t always understand exactly what marketing does (though that won’t stop them from having opinions or offering advice!).
And, perhaps most importantly, you’ll need to manage upward, to the CEO and board of directors of the organization. Simply producing another report or launching a successful ad campaign, while necessary, is not sufficient. You need to create the vision, and get others to buy into it.
Just like the company CEO.
Breathtaking, isn't it?
___
Next: What do CMOs Actually Do?
*“By 2017 the CMO will spend more on IT than the CIO,” January 3, 2012.
**Day, George, The Market-Driven Organization,” The Free Press, 1999
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