An opinion piece in the September 12th issue of Ad Age addressed why Chief Marketing Officers get so little love. CMOs have a shorter career life span in corporations than CIOs, it seems. This is not a new phenomenon, however, recent high profile dismissals at B-to-C global enterprises underscore how difficult it is for marketing executives to keep their seat in the executive suite when key performance metrics their companies fail to beat.
Maybe, the author, Mr. Jonathan Salem Baskin, suggests, the CMOs deserved to be jettisoned. Why? Because they put too much emphasis on brand equity, building long-term communities and controlling the conversations with the various publics and underperform where it really matters. Mr. Baskin argues that new CMOs fail to focus (or put enough focus) on driving revenue. After all, he wisely points out, companies exist to make money.
Seriously? Marketing’s top officer is giving sales revenue short shrift? If that’s the reality at the top echelon of the profession, marketing will never get any respect.
Another contributor to the quick ouster of CMOs, he contends, is a lack of recognition or acceptance that marketing doesn’t own the marketplace anymore. Conversations are happening all over the corporation and most are much more compelling (than marketing’s) because these conversations lead to purchases. Apparently, marketing puts the emphasis on getting customers to talk about branding. Proving a direct correlation to sales revenue is nearly impossible.
Mr. Baskin’s final argument is that the Internet “makes everyone an expert on everything. This is particularly an issue with marketing….” Uh, the Internet didn’t create that mindset. It’s always existed, the Internet merely exacerbated the problem. I worked for an enterprise that added corporate communications to the job scope of a VP of Operations. This person had never worked in that capacity, but she claimed she had an aptitude for the function and was a quick learner. The same company moved an admin with little training and no related degree into a mid-level marketing communications role. Education and experience be damned.
That’s a perception problem the CMO must help change. But as Mr. Baskin points out, it shouldn’t be at the top of the list, especially for a new CMO. The bottom line is the bottom line should be the priority. First, foremost and always. Focus on the strategy of marketing and how it will drive sales revenue. Do that quickly and successfully and CMOs won’t have to continually justify their existence.
Until CMOs figure that out, they, and by extension all of marketing, will continue to get no love.
No comments:
Post a Comment