Oh I agree we need more CMOs to ascend as CEOs but then in a typical chicken and egg dilemma, we need more CMOs capable of being CEOs. So round and round we go. I think in the end, we need to focus on marketing as the chief advocates for the customer and marketers as business people and all the skills required to do those 2 separate things.

One thought: do CEO’s get the marketing they deserve? If the Board doesn’t include marketers and hold them as equals in the business planning and execution (have them lead the strategy development given they should know the market) then how can marketing deliver against full range of capabilities of their profession?
On the otherhand, if marketers are not acquiring the full range of skills and taking an education/develoment path for strategic marketing (points made about knowledge of the business, finance, P&L, revenue etc) then the marketing community has only itself to blame.

As was pointed out earlier, many CEO’s have limited appreciation of the true value or impact of strategic marketing something that the marketing community itself has continued to perpetuate. It used to be advertising (probably because it was where the bulk of the (B2C) marketing mix went) that CEO’s linked marketing to. Now it appears that marketers have found a new love: social media! (although it’s not such an awesome line item investment on the books).

Both Adele and Susan mentioned the word strategy which is an alien term to some of our marketers whereby, in my view, it should be the backbone to our actions and possibly the key to bridging the gap between the CEO and marketing. Is this not the role of the CMO?

If I may throw out an associated question: will this debate ever be concluded so long as we have businesses driven by sales (deal driven, short term vision) and served by marketing (building loyalty/relationships with customers to maximise revenues)? In some industries this is definitely a “master(sales)-slave(marketing)” relationship. Sir Terry Leahy, outgoing CEO of Tesco (retailer) seemed to have got the formula right but there again he was their CMO before taking up the job in the big chair. Perhaps thats the secret, more CMO’s as CEO’s?

Welcome your thoughts….

Hi Jason,

I could not agree more. I had never heard of the firm that conducted the survey but I do thnk they did a great job with the questions and with hitting on a really important issue for marketers: figuring out what it is we really should be doing. I see so many media “ego buys” and there are lots of “speaking frogs” out there.

But it takes balls to tell our internal customers that we’re just not gonna be order-takers any more as well. I see it every day and rare is the leader who can stand up to an internal exec and say “NO. that is not helping to move our business forward.”

I continue to believe that accountability is going to be harder and harder for marketers to escape!

Best, Michael

Well said Rob! I think you are correct that marketing is more about strategy and customer experience as opposed to just advertising. And I am so happy that you did not place the burden of changing that perception with anyone but us. I also believe we need to show some leadership in making this case every chance we get.

Best,
Michael

67% believe marketers don’t think enough like business people by focusing too much on the “arty” or “fluffy” creative side of marketing.

It’s ironic, that the job of marketing is to “speak the language of the audience” and it seems the perception is that we fail horribly at this.

Focusing on the arty side of creative results in frogs that can say budweiser. Sadly as memorable as that might be, it’s not a message that resonates with business owners internally, nor does it really tell customers anything about what you do.

I think being able to speak P&L and ROI internally and externally having the balls to just tell customers what it is you do, are the hallmarks of what good marketing will look like tomorrow.

You hit the nail on the head when you said that marketing is all about the customer experience. Marketing is about a conversation with the marketplace. If, as a marketer, you know how your intended audience uses your product, how much it likes (and more importantly, dislikes) your product, and what it wishes were in your product, you know what to say when communicating with them.

Unfortunately, it’s sales that tends to reap the most public benefits from marketing, and in B2B especially, those benefits are far removed from the first “marketing touch.” That’s why it’s hard to talk in terms of P&L when we spend x thousands of dollars on a corporate branding campaign.

CEO’s should know this better than most: you cannot discount the value of polish, good communication, and coherent message when talking to the market. It will translate into sales – it’s just not instantaneous.

Hi Susan,

You know it’s a good question that the group who ran the survey should add the next time they run it.

And a really great point. Having had P&L responsibility as a product marketer at a former company, I can tell you that I think you are abailsutely right. Classic product marketers own the P&L and run their businesses like a CEO so they already know the language, understand how to carry that responsibility and make better decisions as a result.

Unfortunately, many businesses do not respect marketing at such a high-level and so do not trust marketers to carry P&L responsibility. This can then lead marketing down a path toward essentially tactical order-taking for the business. And this can start a vicious cycle whereby marketers cannot seem to escape the credibility gap this survey references.

That’s why I think marketing needs to do more than just “speak the language” of the CEO and the business but needs to claim the “high ground” of leadership and ownership of the customer.

Thanks for adding your valuable thoughts!
Best, Michael

Hi Adele,

I don’t think I had the pleasure of taking your course but wish I had.

Thanks for your support of my argument. It sounds like you have some pretty detailed views on this whole subject based on your incredible experience. I promise to check it out and wlecome all of my readers to do the same.

Best, Michael

I came over from a link on Twitter. I have one question for you and that is of the companies that were surveyed did the marketers have responsibility for the P & L? The reason for the question is and I can only speak of my past experience as a marketer in the corporate world if you have the responsibility then every decision you make ties back to the financials and you are held accountable. This is common practice in consumer companies and marketing is seen as a business discipline affecting all areas of the business. I actually can’t see how a marketer can set objectives,select strategies and choose tactics if they are not tied to financial objectives.

If they are only given responsibility for the tactics and that is their only experience then I would imagine it would be difficult unless they were taught the financial side and how it all ties in.

I can’t remember if we met years ago when I was teaching the Integrated Marketing Strategies workshop at SAP (2004 – 2008).

You’re so incredibly right about the problem, and the opportunity, for marketers to get strategic.

I’m optimistic that we can solve this problem (albeit gradually) by giving marketers new tools and skills to discover real insights about how their prospective buyers make decisions . . . and then show them how to leverage those insights to make better choices about everything from segmentation to messaging and marketing mix.

My understanding of the problem has evolved significantly since I was working with the SAP product marketers. I’ve had the chance to see these ideas implemented in other large companies, and developed an entirely new curriculum based on my findings.

I’ve also published an ebook explaining my proposal — The Buyer Persona Manifesto — available for free on my website. I’d love to hear your feedback.

Ha. Now if we can figure that out, we would be famous (and maybe rich). But you are right, “Marketing as Strategy” is close to the point I was making about owning the customer and representing their needs to the business – the goal of any enterprise.

Thanks for stopping by!
Michael

Thanks Eric,

There’s a lot of treading water out there unfortunately. I like your point about investing in becoming better marketers. I shared this study because I agree with the findings as well but believe we can turn it around if we focus on metrics, customer experiences but also to your point in creating the focus around the skill set of being able to relate to CEOs and speak like a business person.

Best,
Michael