We’ve seen it in reports and heard it in speaking with colleagues—the role of the chief marketing officer is changing but many of the challenges remain the same. Not only do today’s CMOs oversee marketing, but they have adopted a role of customer caretaker. During Advertising Week New York, leaders in the industry shared their views on this evolving career landscape.
During a panel called “The CMO Perspective on Trust, Quality and Brand Safety,” a common thread among professionals was the challenge of resonating with consumers during this ever-changing, and turbulent media landscape.
Univision marketing chief Jessica Rodriguez said this was especially true for the Spanish language network, which has seen a rise in competition over the past year.
“We’ve been able to take a step back as a media company,” she said, in order determine what the brand’s strengths are and what the brand stands for. Johnson added that sometimes it’s tempting as marketers to go down a rabbit hole of investing or trying new things but if you let it get out of hand, it can distract from the brand’s core values.
Young consumers tend to value experiences over objects. In response to changing consumer sentiment, Mastercard took a different approach to its “Priceless” campaign by focusing on the moments in life that money can’t buy.
“Connecting with consumers is becoming a huge issue,” said Mastercard chief marketing and communications officer Raja Rajamannar. “The information overload is humongous. [The solution is] enabling consumers to tell stories that they are going through.”
Rajamannar called it “going from storytelling to story making.”
In another panel called “The Evolution of the CMO,” the traditional role of a marketer was called into question. It has become much more common to build a close relationship with one’s CTO, for example. Chief marketing officers are embracing accountability and making decisions normally reserved for other members of the company.
“I think the CMO is evolving more toward a general manager,” said Ty Shay, CMO of Norton Consumer Business. “For CMOs embracing accountability, it’s a natural path.”
It became apparent listening to marketers speaking across a myriad of panels that today’s CMOs see themselves differently, too.
“The importance of the CMO has grown tremendously,” said Aditi Javeri Gokhale, CMO of Northwestern Mutual. “We’re the closest to the customer. I see myself as a change agent pushing the boundaries.”
Dara Treseder, CMO of GE Ventures, observed that with new responsibilities comes greater recognition.
“I think the CMO is having a higher profile because people are taking notice that we’re delivering more,” she said.
As marketers become jack-of-all-trades within their companies, the priority will always be about the consumer, if not more so.
“[The future CMO will be] someone who has empathy who understands the wants and needs of the customer,” said Stephen Freitas, chief marketing officer of Outdoor Advertising Association of America. “Maybe the new title will be chief understanding officer.”
