C-Suite Dynamics - How do CMOs manage them?

Last week I hosted a virtual member only session with the @CMOCollaborative on the topic of CMO relationships with their CEOs and CFOs. I found the conversation extremely insightful and thought I would share a summary of what I heard:

A 2023 McKinsey article stated that “CEOs who place marketing at the core of their growth strategy are twice as likely to have greater than 5 percent annual growth compared with the peers.” Arguably, the next most important relationship (especially in public companies) is the CMO-CFO relationship . Yet, as CMOs we often struggle with these relationships. We speak distinct languages and tend to approach our strategies, projects, teams, dollars and data fundamentally differently.?

“As CMOs how do we build the right dynamic with the CEO and CFO in order to drive growth for our businesses?”?

It was refreshing to have a couple dozen executive peers be so open and transparent about their struggles and ideas for creating trust and credibility with their CEOs and CFOs.? Truth is the advice provided spans across the C-suite as CMOs tend to be a connector across the entire business.??

We centered our conversation on two core issues:

Murkiness in CMO responsibilities - There are now chief digital officers, customer officers, and growth officers.? Pricing can be found in finance, internal communications often lives in HR, etc.? In the same McKinsey study, “more than two-thirds of the CMOs said there are two or more leaders in their companies who oversee marketing and marketing-related activities and sit on the executive team reporting directly to the CEO. The result is a blurring of marketing’s role and an overlap with other customer related remits.? CMOs are often told what ‘isn’t’ in their remit instead of what ‘is’.”

As broad change agents the group agreed that direct responsibilities are often unclear and that marketing can be an ‘easy dumping ground.’ One person commented that the issue is even more pronounced in start-ups where ‘everything tends to fall on my plate.’ Everyone agreed that companies tend to be running leaner than ever right now.? It was also interesting that the CMOs find their remit far clearer with their CEO than with their peers. Each peer tends has a different definition of success for Marketing. Specific Ideas:

• Create a Roles, Responsibilities and Expectations (RRE) living document and review with your CEO once every 6 months
• Have a direct, open conversation with your CEO explaining your bandwidth and limitations and check that you have alignment
• Keep in mind that the role of Marketing will change as the company grows.? Embrace that.
• Center on the customer and be their voice/advocate. Engage your CEO and CFO with them. Obsess about the buyer’s journey and potentially the customer experience.
• Continually educate your peers on your role (personally and Marketing more broadly).? Not just what it is but what it has been historically and how it is evolving.? Include how modern marketing is changing with AI, data, etc.

Underestimated potential for Marketing to drive growth - CEOs tend to fall into 3 camps:?

1) They understand marketing as a strategic growth driver

2) They believe marketing can drive growth, but only tactically

3) They think of marketing as a cost center?

Participants find that it is very difficult to shift a CEO out of the camp they live in. If they are a non-believer you are unlikely to change that ‘religion.’ That said, the group did have a few suggestions:

• If you are new-ish to your role ‘get to the edge’ quickly.? Understand what camp the CEO sits in. (Ideally even before you take the job)
• Establish the mindset that you are a key business executive for the organization who happens to have marketing expertise vs. one of a marketer fighting for budget. DON’T be the CMO that constantly asks for more dollars
• Educate your CEO from outside credible (eg Gartner) sources.? Look for research/articles that are talking to the CEO in business terms (like the McKinsey article)
• Deeply understand your CEO. What is important to them? How can you make them personally more successful? Speak in their language on topics they care about.? What companies/leaders do they admire?? Can you find great marketing examples from those companies?

“How can I best help you?”

• Be as transparent as possible with your CFO–the good, the bad and the ugly
• Share the KPIs that are important to your CEO and CFO, not necessarily what is important to you.? Keep your leading indicators within the Marketing team
• Most agreed that it is worth ‘going to the mat’ when budgets get cut drastically and KPIs/expectations don’t change
• Consider creating your CFO an external communications plan.? Help them build their thought leadership and brand. They have egos too
• Nurture a strong relationship with one or more of your peers. Share more with them than you might normally.? Build an advocate for when you aren’t in the room
• Nurture relationships at the Board level to gain advocacy there (pick one or two).? Get yourself in the Board meetings and at the Board dinners

In summary, it is imperative that CMOs continually discuss and clarify their remit (along with its’ evolution) not only with their CEO, but with their peers as well.? If your CEO doesn’t believe in Marketing as a strategic growth driver there are tactics you can try but it is unlikely you are going to change their ‘religion.’? Bottom line in my mind:

CMOs need to spend an inordinate amount of time on relationship building, education and adapting to others’ language, needs and styles in order to successfully drive growth in their business.??