CMOs in Peril

Two Types of CMOs

From my vantage point as a former marketing executive and current head of nFusion working with dozens of different client companies, I see two types of CMOs. The first, which I’ll call Type A, is the one in most peril. The second, Type B is, unfortunately, a rarity.

Here’s the situation in which many Type A CMOs find themselves. A company has several business units with P&L responsibility, predominantly based around different product types. It has offices around the globe in order to serve international markets, each with its own shadow P&L. This structure leads to the delivery of an array of messages to the market, varying both by product category and geography. At some point the CEO decides that “we need a coherent brand strategy” and appoints a CMO to work across all business units and geographies to unify the company’s voice. The new CMO promptly hires a big name advertising agency to develop a unifying campaign and a catchy tag line. Several marketing operations are centralized in the CMO’s office, the new “brand mission” is rolled out and the executive team feels good that progress is being made. Eighteen months later, business results have not improved significantly, the business units and geographies are frustrated by lack of marketing accountability and the CMO is hung out to dry. The search for a new CMO then begins.

The problem as I see it is that the Type A CMO’s charter was insufficient. The company was trying to solve its business performance issues through brand advertising. Not surprisingly, that only had a short-term impact on morale and little long-term impact on results. What’s really needed is a different charter and a Type B CMO.



The first action of a Type B CMO is to architect a competitively-advantaged business model. This takes a unique person who can involve the product leaders, the operations leaders and the CFO in developing a sound corporate strategy. Where can the company win? How can it attract and retain customers better than competitors? What products and services are needed to deliver this strategy? What pricing strategy is optimal? What operational model is needed to support this strategy and to make money? These are critical issues that the Type A CMO doesn’t address and are the issues central to business performance. Once the winning business model has been defined, then the CMO can proceed to the second step, developing brand communications that reinforce the model.

However, a Type B CMO will not stop there. He or she will devise an organizational approach to executing a third step, which is a comprehensive portfolio of customer engagement programs. This is where marketing effectiveness happens, where new customers are invited into a relationship and current customers actively participate in a dialogue with the company. These are the programs that deliver sales results and that are adaptable to the value propositions of each product line and uniqueness of each geography. They embrace interaction across all media, especially the digital world, where customers are spending much of their time. They are measurable and accountable to the business unit needs. They are the lifeblood of a successful organization.

The good news for imperiled CMOs is that they can extend their value and their tenures if they become Type B CMOs. At least that’s how I see it. What’s your perspective? Join this discussion and see what others have to say.