Chief Marketing Officers Seeking Greater Strategic Influence on Organizations
Two-thirds of chief marketing officers want more involvement in business strategy development and increased profit and loss responsibility. But many are still fighting to increase their involvement beyond that of traditional marketing to gain greater influence within their organizations.
This disconnect between the influence marketing leaders want and how they might attain it is reflected in the findings of a joint survey of more than 130 chief and senior marketers from companies with revenue of more than $100 million conducted by Forrester Research and Heidrick & Struggles.
“CMOs who can acutely tap into customer needs and evangelize them throughout the organization will be able to drive growth and strategy for the business,” says Jane Stevenson, global managing partner of Heidrick & Struggles’ CMO Practice. “At the end of the day, an evolved CMO is an enduring business leader, a strategy-driving, influence-wielding executive with a finger on the pulse of the organization and the customer.”
That conclusion is drawn, in part, from the survey findings, which revealed a disconnect between the career aspirations of marketing leaders and how they spend their time.
“CMOs have a great opportunity to transform their marketing teams from order-takers to collaborators, but it takes more than harnessing available opportunities to win credibility — it takes diligent self-development,” adds Cindy Commander, analyst with Forrester Research’s CMO Group, an executive-level peer knowledge and networking community for chief and senior marketers. “If CMOs want to become true business leaders, it’s time for them to step up to the plate and proactively evolve their role.”
However, the survey found that one-quarter of CMOs are not involved in any way with customer service and support, distancing marketing from what customers are saying in the field. In addition, less than half of CMOs identified being the voice of the customer a top priority for their personal success, with even fewer identifying listening to/interacting with customers, and personal knowledge of customers as crucial to their jobs.
