In many boardrooms today, a significant shift is happening: the role of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is disappearing. A McKinsey study found that 40% of Fortune 500 companies no longer have a CMO or a similar role on their CEO’s executive team. In a challenging economic outlook, businesses are working with increasingly lean teams adding complexity and urgency to leaders to rethink their roles.
Changing Tides
With access to new tools, and shifts in consumer behaviour, the role of CMO has expanded reflecting significant transformations reshaping the marketing landscape:
- Marketing At Every Level: Today’s consumers receive interactions from a brand at many touch points across several teams – from social media to customer service, allowing them to have the seamless and personalised experience crucial in the competitively saturated media landscape. With customers spending more time online than ever before, marketers can now track their preferences from their favourite colour of socks down to the types of ads they respond to best, gaining access to data and insights that wasn’t possible before.
- Digital Revolution: The widespread use of digital technology has drastically changed how companies approach marketing. Data analytics and social listening tools have resulted in teams having an overview and access to information that was once privy to the traditional role of CMO. Cross-collaboration across departments is now easily facilitated through such digital tools, creating a more unified brand experience, but also lessening the onus on CMOs.
- Market Dynamics: In a world where consumer preferences and trends can change overnight, the old top-down management style often used by CMOs is becoming less effective. Modern marketing leaders need to foster a culture of innovation and flexibility. The need to adapt and respond quickly to new opportunities or changes in consumer attitudes and move away from the slow and rigid methods typical of large, traditional marketing departments.
Redefining Traditional Roles
The role of the Chief Marketing Officer is evolving to meet the new demands of the business world. Traditionally seen as the protectors of brand identity, CMOs are now expanding their roles to include strategic planning, market research, and data analysis. This change is driven by higher consumer expectations and the need for quick adaptation in a dynamic market.
A Deloitte survey highlights this shift, showing that CMOs now spend more time working with executives from Sales and Operations (32%) and other cross-functional teams (28%) than with their own marketing teams. This kind of collaboration across departments is crucial for ongoing success in quickly changing markets. For example, my role as the Head of Growth Marketing at Choco Up entitled not only identifying growth opportunities but also recruiting and developing talent to improve the team’s strategic capabilities. In fact, throughout my career in Marketing at various startups, they’ve always expanded across marketing, product and business development.
While Marketing has always been cross-functional, the ability and importance to work better across teams is higher than ever. Access to data makes it easier to see the impact of various teams’ efforts, and movement down the funnel, making CMOs more informed than ever. This expanded role is illustrated by the promotions of former CMOs to broader managerial positions, such as the CMOs at Starbucks and Xandr who were promoted to Chief Operating Officer and Chief Business Officer, respectively. Their promotions reflect their deep involvement in teamwork across functions and their ability to lead beyond traditional marketing roles, showing how CMO responsibilities are increasingly linked with overall business operations.
The Next Generation CMO
The evolution of the Chief Marketing Officer’s role is driven by necessity, adapting to a business environment that values rapid innovation and cross-functional leadership. While the official title might have been redefined, the responsibility of delivering an end-to-end customer-centric experience remains, and their impact on businesses is larger than ever before.
About the author
Niki Torres is an accomplished professional with over a decade of experience in digital marketing and product management, specialising in driving business growth. She currently serves as the Head of Growth Marketing at Choco Up, a revenue-based financing company dedicated to empowering asset-light businesses to achieve significant growth. Niki’s extensive track record includes key roles at prominent organisations such as NOVI Health and Airalo, both of which are supported by industry leader PeakXV (formerly Sequoia Capital).
