CMO- The Funambulist

“CMO- The Funambulist”

      On careful observation, you will find that not only the consumer behaviour has changed but also the fastest evolving is the role of Chief Marketing Officer, and this change has been phenomenal, as always, the CMO was dealing with the traditional challenges of changing trends, managing product and customer experience. What pandemic has also added is the complexity is that customer experience is driven by technology. The budgets have been slashed by thirty per cent manpower and support services reduced to the minimum, The data accumulated for processing and decision making manyfold.

      It is significant that spending power alone no more determines customer experience as did in past the key is the human digital combination. In the age of confinement and transformation of space as mixed-use. Sectors like food, fashion, travel, entertainment, and health are transformed and became Omnichannel. Outdoor businesses transportation, aviation and tourism are still to address the issues and develop customer experience which can address the safety and privileges of which customers demand.

      The renewed challenge CMO is facing is to unify and provide a uniform customer experience across channels with the embedded aspect of marketing technology and data analytics.

      Brand building and safeguarding the reputation of the brand using technology is another aspect that is of growing concern. The customers in the near past have become more conservative in consumption but have increasingly adopted technology to extract value for money.

      Established brands are facing the challenge to stand up and justify the purpose they identified of serving society, providing the best services, and standing with the customer in times of need. Else they run the risk of denting their reputation build over years. CMO must not only provide innovative options to be more economical, logistically less challenged but also need to maintain profitability. With the outdoors speeded up the option of communication is packing-which is being used as a tool of communication by the smart CMO to win the customers and generate future demand.

      Technology is a great enabler and has replaced the place with a platforming the P of marketing. The brand’s presence on the platform is increasingly becoming vital. The smart CMO is not only to identify the platforms on which the brand needs to be live but synchronise experience is if the platform is offering an edge over competitors. Does it offer a frictionless experience to the customers? How efficiently the platform integrated with the ERP package the company has adopted to have seamless operations.

      Decisions are data-driven stretching the role of CMO Agility and pace are the new mantras along with understanding analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. As the touch screen replaced the keyboards so are CMO’s getting replaced by Chief technology and Marketing Officer. Largely because of the changing environment and customers leaving behind a trail of transactions which as a puzzle continues to be unresolved purely by marketing, behavioural science, and branding. Data has squeezed planning and execution and unleash avenues never-before explored 3D virtual showrooms, Predictive online retail, Door to Door retail, Warehouses as pickup points and curb side as order points, touch-free distance delivery is the thing in demand and safety a new variable that the customer is demanding an equally difficult acquisition. Addressing the demand for one-to-one experience and the wow factors are keeping the grey cells of the CMO-CT MO activated more than ever.

      Many more challenges are still to come for the ever-evolving role of CMO from Content to Connect. It would make an interesting study to know how CMO transforms himself/ herself and maintains efficiency while managing from a distance and chasing time with trimmed resources.

      Only the best will survive, and the funambulist will be a transformed entity.