Published on October 4th, 2012 | by Saurabh Pandey

The New CMO!

Forrestor and Heidrick & Struggles Global CMO survey of 2011 (200 CMOs) outlined 2 great opportunities for the CMOs :
1. Beef up digital & technical understanding: The survey showed that digital & technical skills are second most important skills to acquire on the CMOs agenda. This is especially critical for various startups where the CEO himself is the default CMO.

2. Focus on retention in addition to acquisition: this is a no-brainer. This is a challenge that a CMO must take up and excel. There is no way out. My own personal view is that many startups flush with funds especially in India even today are focused on acquisitions without much focus (or even cognizant about) on retention and engagement.

The time has come when CMOs need to think beyond the marketing metrics alone and illustrate strategically how their team can help the organization achieve the overall business objectives.
I am quoting from www.heidrick.com here, Denny Marie, CMO of Red Robin, (what a beautiful thought):

“Marketing owns the totality of the customer experience — we need to clearly define the touchpoints and customer values we want to deliver with the help of partners like operations, sales, technology, etc. To be successful, marketers have to set aside ego and, at the same time, have a strong personality to be able to orchestrate all the pieces of the brand experience. If you’re a really great orchestrator, you can walk away, and the team will still play well together. Today’s CMO gains credibility and influence from flexibility and a willingness to learn.”

The future clearly shows that there would a closer and tighter alliance of the CMO with the CIO, both together being responsible for understanding, leveraging and communicating consumer insights and value with the help of technology. Both will transform the organization from a ‘marketing’ or a ‘tech’ organization to a truly ‘consumer focused’ organization.

Question to you: What do YOU see in your organization? Think! Ponder! And if you want, share your thoughts here!

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