4 Questions CMOs Are Asking Right Now

It's likely when reading this, that your working life is visibly different to what it was in February 2020, if recognisable at all.

Covid-19 and subsequent government measures have meant that the way we consume, what we consume and what we value has changed. GlobalWebIndex reports that 41% of global consumers have delayed purchasing vacations and holidays, 15% of consumers are delaying purchases of luxury items and around 80% of global consumers agree that brands should close non-essential stores. The World Health Organisation have expressed that it will be some time before we have a long-term solution to Covid19, if ever, so how do marketeers operate in this new normal and what are the priorities for businesses in order to survive?

I asked CMOs and business-leaders from a number of consumer-facing brands across a variety of sectors:

"Over 40% of consumers say they will buy major purchases only when the outbreak decreases or ends in their country. What questions are you asking of your teams or of yourself right now?"

Here's what they were asking:

1. How can we accelerate our digital initiatives?

With many consumers globally being encouraged to stay at home, or at least spend more time in the home, purchasing habits have significantly shifted to online and many brands now look to digital as their only chance of survival.

An interesting observation when speaking with marketing leaders was that many of them were looking to accelerate (albeit at an unprecedented pace) projects or transformation programmes that were already in the pipeline rather than creating new initiatives altogether.

Digital capability is equally as, if not more, important than campaigns going forwards.

Having insights available, purchase funnels to-hand and using data regularly should now be the first point for any marketeer (more on how this is done later on). Putting CRM and marketing automation tools (Salesforce, Adobe Marketing Cloud, Microsoft Dynamics 365 etc.) front-and-centre must be a priority and building campaigns and digital journeys around consumer behaviours and segments is next.

Operating teams and working methods in a digital way is important too. The campaign planning process should now reflect "agile" or "release" behaviours, at least in the short-term, to allow digital capability and digital engineering (IT) teams to work alongside marketing teams in a synchronous way.

The lesson here is: Digital capability is of equal, if not greater, value as campaigns going forwards.

2. How can we be more effective in social media, given its importance?

With out-of-home / above-the-line / outdoor media options such as billboards, bus sides and public transport sites seeing less eyes on them, channels such as email and social media have been brought to the fore like never before.

Another observation here is that effectiveness was the lens through which social media was being judged. Digging further into this, with a new found energy and reliance being placed on social media, a nervousness or hesitation as to whether social media channels were a safe place for precious marketing dollars or resources to go was apparent and greater confidence was needed.

There are three things which could support social media effectiveness:

• The right measurements and tools - starting with accurate and agreeable metrics is the first step. Social media isn't always a sales channel (and if your first interaction with a brand is on social media then a sales message is unlikely to get the desired result) so allowing more brand orientated metrics (engagement etc.) is important. Combining these metrics with accurate and regular reporting, utilising tools such as Social Studio, SproutSocial and Google Analytics for example, is key here.
• Paid media, fans and influencers - limiting yourself to being the only voice in a conversation sounds as fruitless written down as it does when spoken aloud, so why assume that it will surmount to an effective marketing campaign? Putting more media spend behind that voice is one tactic but with consumers judging the ethical behaviours of a brand, there's a balance as to when that voice sounds too opportunistic. Being able to activate your closest advocates and larger accounts who are able to support your products and services will be needed for a campaign to feel wholesome.
• Playbooks - no longer the stomping ground of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Tiger Who Came to Tea, playbooks are now synonymous with brands and agencies worldwide rather than child-focussed literary. It's true also that they've never been more vital. In a world where more people are working remotely and Zoom conversations are seen as the pinnacle of office interaction, aligning all stakeholders around one version of the truth is essential to remaining effective. Combine this with the reality that your marketing proposition is likely to need adapting to be relevant to consumers as they face a new way of living, playbooks should be a go-to in the marketing toolbox.

Changing a previously proven marketing proposition will often feel like pruning branches off of a tree during summer

3. What should our proposition look like now?

There was a much shorter discussion on this point but also an acknowledgment that this was a fundamental shift. Brands who aim to "bring people closer" or provide "escape" risk disengaging consumers who face a very different reality.

Changing a previously proven marketing proposition will often feel like pruning branches off of a tree during summer but now is the time to reflect upon and adapt your offering to be safer, more conscious and, most importantly, digital-first.

The lesson here is: you can't sit on your laurels.

4. How's best for my team to work remotely?

Marketing teams are, quite rightly, one of the functions being asked to remain at home, often to free-up office space for operations which now require more distance. Leadership styles within this new environment are having to change and CMOs appear to be considering whether the previous status-quo around ways-of-working from home are the best modus operandi given the shift. Extending this topic to teams I've led and and industry colleagues resulted in a number of ways to help solve this:

"On a Zoom call, I am a guest in somebody else's home and will pay them a level of respect accordingly"

A renewed appreciation for the work-life balance - with Finland reportedly moving towards a four day working-week and parents of younger children crying-out for flexible working-practices, it's no wonder that staying at home has made the calls for a better work-life balance even louder. Marketeers, in the most-part, agree that flexible work schedules are both needed and inevitable. So, not only is this something which will require addressing, CMOs and business leaders are already being judged on how proactive and forward-thinking they are on this topic. Address this sooner rather than later.

Develop a renewed charter / set of values - one of the most positively received solutions with working from home was devising a charter for colleagues to "sign-up" to. Agreeing a set of basic, common principles such as "I will take regular breaks away from my laptop", "when my laptop is closed for the day, I will not open it again until the morning" and "I recognise that on a Zoom call I am a guest in somebody else's home and will pay them a level of respect accordingly" developed a recognisable team ethos of which everybody could play a part

Review your tools - having access to shared data, insights and aligned reporting (as we spoke about earlier) all contribute to new-world marketing success so now is the time to consider whether Microsoft Office should be your go-to or whether tools such as Slack, Facebook Workplace, Salesforce and Trello should be rolled out across the marketing function. Tactics previously considered the foray of global teams should now be looked upon for local teams alike.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world"

Be the thought leaders / demonstrate best practice - Marketeers have often been at the forefront of change and now, during a time of intense uncertainty, it's needed more than ever. Not only have marketing teams globally already demonstrated many of these ways-of-working in some small way, it's likely that thriving in this environment, with a new sense of direction and a renewed focus on data, will be a source of greater levels of compatibility with partner functions including financial colleagues and product leads. If ever the words were truer, "Be the change you wish to see in the world"

If you are considering similar questions, wanted more information on any of the above or are wondering how best to accelerate your digital transition, I can be contacted through LinkedIn in the first instance.