Chapter 01
The Evolving Role of the CMO
We are two decades into a digital era that has transformed the structure and culture of many large organisations. As part of these changes, the role of the chief marketing officer (CMO), and marketing function, has become broader and more strategic than ever before.
According to Forrester Research, the CMO has become increasingly important to business strategy, with increased responsibilities that span sales, business development and technology.
Deloitte Consulting has identified no fewer than five roles that are commonly performed by the CMO in large organisations, spanning multiple functions and disciplines. These include driving business growth, being a champion of customer centricity, using technology to deploy new marketing capabilities, and being a storyteller in relation to the company’s brand.
“I do very much feel we are at the heart of the business and the CMO’s presence at the top table is valued,” says Laila Beswick, head of international field marketing with Celonis. “Marketing operations is critical in giving us the tools to understand our buyers, and their behaviour, and driving the right people to our website.”
It’s a lot of responsibility, and in many cases, the exact boundaries of these new roles have still to be defined. The marketing leaders we interviewed for this eBook each had a range of responsibilities, but all agreed their role has broadened in scope and responsibility in recent years.
When Ewan Ross started working in marketing, the department was sometimes referred to as “the colouring in department” by sales staff. “In the old days they would joke that we just made mugs and mouse mats with a logo on, but it’s changed completely,” says Ross, who is now director of marketing for EMEA with security vendor SY4 Security. “My role still includes PR and AR, but also demand generation, pipeline development. It’s a very welcome change.”
Figure source: The above figure was produced by Deloitte consulting explaining the 5 roles commonly performed by the CMO's
As the role of the CMO has expanded, marketing leaders have developed strong partnerships with other business functions, such as technology, sales and business development, says Emma Acton, VP of global field marketing with TIBCO. In the early days of her career, Acton says the job of the marketing leader was often much more tactical. Today, the picture is very different. “Now CMOs are absolutely there at the forefront, delivering insight and strategy, and helping to form the company go-to-market plan with the rest of the executive leadership team.”
As the role of the CMO has expanded, marketing leaders have developed strong partnerships with other business functions, such as technology, sales and business development. Now CMOs are absolutely there at the forefront, delivering insight and strategy, and helping to form the company go-to-market plan with the rest of the executive leadership team.
Emma Acton, VP Global Field Marketing
Factors driving the new CMO
The new and improved CMO is in part a response to a shift in how companies engage with their customers.
Fifteen years ago, a company like Adobe was in the business of selling enterprise software to businesses for $10,000, but today the company is selling solutions that span multiple products over longer periods, explains Imran Dhila (Patel), a former Senior Enterprise Account Director with Adobe. “We used to sell that analytic software back in 2005 to IT directors for $10,000 a year. By 2012 we were selling solution-based technology for $1 Million + , but the buyer wasn’t the IT Manager, it was the Marketing Director.”
The B2B technology sector is often not selling to the CIO or CTO within a customer organisation. Rather, marketing departments are reaching out to business influencers, especially for cloud projects and software as a service (SaaS) applications. Rather than focusing on functionality, there is a growing awareness that technology needs to solve problems, to help customers on their journey, to align with business strategy.
“Cloud technology has changed how people invest in technology. It used to be that enterprise clients went to Oracle or SAP and spent millions on a global solution, but now there’s a wide range of best-of-breed SaaS and other cloud solutions, and that’s changed who within the organisation is empowered to make buying decisions,” says Karen O’Brien, a marketing specialist at one of the world’s leading information technology consultancies.
Cloud technology has changed how people invest in technology. It used to be that enterprise clients went to Oracle or SAP and spent millions on a global solution, but now there’s a wide range of best-of-breed SaaS and other cloud solutions, and that’s changed who within the organisation is empowered to make buying decisions.
Karen O'Brien, Ph.D, Global Head of SAP Marketing at a leading tech consultancy
Alongside this change, sales cycles have become shorter, and marketing has had to respond by becoming more agile. Many technology firms are adapting to agile software development, which eschews long-term goals in favour of short-term, achievable targets. Similarly, days of the 12 month marketing plan are probably behind us, says Emily Toole, marketing director at Automation Logic. The company has been using Google OKRs (objectives and key results) methodology to set goals and track progress on a quarterly basis, says Toole. “We break down those tasks as small as possible, using Trello, to really keep us on track and working in sprints, continually evaluating our marketing activity. It’s been a big shift,” she says.
This parallels the increasing interest in so-called agile software development, which. There has been a sea change in how customers engage with suppliers in the technology and professional services sector, adds Amir Dehnad, Digital Marketing Sr. Director at digital consulting firm Avanade. “We are seeing massive changes in how customers select and work with brands, and it’s impacted the customer journey as a whole. Customers are further along in the decision making process before they reach out to a brand, and decide to engage based on their experience.” says Dehnad.
There has been a sea change in how customers engage with suppliers in the technology and professional services sector. We are seeing massive changes in how customers select and work with brands, and it’s impacted the customer journey as a whole. Customers are further along in the decision-making process before they reach out to a brand, and decide to engage based on their experience.
Amir Dehnad, Sr. Director, Digital Marketing Offering Lead
In this type of environment, the role of the CMO is critical, because they can help their organisation engage with customers earlier and in a way that provides insight into what the customer wants – not just today, but in five or ten years.
This of course relates to the second important factor in the new CMO role – digital technology. Marketing technology means that the CMO has access to huge amounts of data that can provide insight into customer feedback, behaviour, buying patterns and social conversations.
Having an understanding of this data, and being able to act as a translator for other business leaders is hugely important for today’s CMOs, says Beswick. “There are so many layers of data, and being able to translate that into actionable insight for the sales teams at an account level, that’s more and more important. Everything is being driven by the data, and it’s a huge change.”
There are so many layers of data, and being able to translate that into actionable insight for the sales teams at an account level, that’s more and more important. Everything is being driven by the data, and it’s a huge change.
Laila Beswick, Head of International Field Marketing
The increased use of digital data and analytics has changed the way marketing is viewed by senior executives, argues Peter Davies, global head of marketing with NCC Group. “The expectations are to be able to provide meaningful, insightful data return on investment analytics almost to the minute, as opposed to what might have been monthly or quarterly in the past. The expectation now is that you have the response to any queries around spend, activity, customer engagement at your fingertips.”
Unsurprisingly, the role of the CMO is becoming increasingly data-led. “The CMO’s role is multi-faceted, and it’s increasingly data-led,” says Dhila (Patel). This means the CMO needs a strong understanding of data and technology, but also the ability to use account-based marketing, and broader business challenges. Account-based marketing (ABM) is a strategy where sales and marketing jointly focus on individual organisations by offering very targeted, personalised marketing and support.
Data reporting encourages organisations to have regular touchpoints with customers, argues Thuan Bui, an independent marketing consultant. “Data should be based on regular customer touchpoints, whether it’s visits by email, the click through, unique views or video views. Metrics are key to make sure that what we’re creating in marketing is fit for purpose and engaging enough for potential customers,” he says.
This vast quantity of data can be used to deliver the personalisation and real-time service that customers demand, but only if there is effective collaboration and information sharing. Within the technology sector, many companies are creating customer experience platforms that pull together data from the front or back-end, ERP and other systems, and can then provide recommendations.
"Data should be based on regular customer touchpoints, whether it’s visits by email, the click-through, unique views or video views. Metrics are key to make sure that what we’re creating in marketing is fit for purpose and engaging enough for potential customers."
Thuan Bui, Founder and Owner at TMB Consulting Group