CEOs Like CMOs, But Aren't Always Confident They Can Deliver
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED In Adweek
By: Paul Hiebert
The good news: Chief executive officers trust their chief marketing officers more than they did in the past.
The bad: This change in relationship hasn’t necessarily resulted in more credibility for marketing as a function.
“CMOs are earning accolades for their growing alignment with the CEO, but CEOs remain skeptical of their ability to drive tangible business results,” according to a new annual report on the CEO-CMO relationship from full-service independent ad agency Boathouse, which surveyed 150 CEOs in January.
When it comes to top marketers’ main priority, 76% of chief executives now believe their CMO is more committed to the company’s overall mission and its leadership team than themselves.
This wasn’t the case just a few years ago, when the majority of CEOs thought their CMO put themselves above everything else.
At the same time, evidence suggests many CEOs keep their CMOs at a distance when it comes to running the business.
Only 24% of CEOs, for instance, think their CMO can translate company goals to marketing goals. Just 19% believe their marketing head possesses the ability to drive company growth.
Perhaps due to these doubts, only around half of chief executives involve their top marketer in shaping company strategy. The other half, meanwhile, expect their CMO to strictly execute on these plans.
“Individually, they’re going up the ladder,” John Connors, CEO and founder of Boathouse, said of CMOs. As for CEOs, he added, “You can see that hesitancy to [recognize] the value marketing is creating.”
The CMO role continues to evolve
As consumer attitudes and behaviors continue to change, so does the top marketing job.
Recent data from search and advisory firm Spencer Stuart, for example, shows just 40% of top marketers at Fortune 500 companies hold the conventional “chief marketing officer” title. One-third of the Fortune 500 don’t even have a traditional C-suite marketing leader.
Instead, the job is broken up and spread across multiple regions and departments.
“Marketing’s role is blurring; responsibilities are not always well-defined,” said Kelsey Robinson, a senior partner at consulting firm McKinsey & Company.
While a unique approach to marketing can serve some companies competing in certain sectors, it can also cause confusion and frustration. A top reason CMOs are asked to leave, according to research from Gartner, is a failure to adapt to changes in the business or marketplace.
“We see that CEOs and CMOs are not always on the same page about the primary role of marketing at their companies,” Robinson added.
That said, Boathouse’s Connors believes chief marketers now have an opportunity to gain the respect they deserve by leveraging their improved standing with the C-suite into a more positive outlook for the marketing function.
“When we started the study four years ago, CMOs didn’t have the trust,” said Connors. “Now that they’ve got the trust, hopefully marketing can build more credibility.”
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