Rebuilding the CMO of tomorrow: 3 things you need to be

I remember as a kid watching The Six Million Dollar Man TV series with Lee Majors. The series focuses on the character Steve Austin, an astronaut who is brought to the brink of death when a test flight of an experimental aircraft goes terribly wrong. He is then “rebuilt” in an operation that costs six million dollars, where his right arm, both legs and the left eye are replaced with “bionic” implants that enhance his strength, speed and vision far above human norms.

The CMO of the future may need to have some superhuman qualities like Austin and rebuilt to better meet the rapidly changing needs and expectations of customers, who are increasingly interacting with companies through multiple digital channels. So tomorrow’s CMO may need to be:

1. Part technologist and analyst/data scientist.

2. Part business leader/strategist and innovator.

3. Part coach/mentor and student.

1. Part technologist and analyst/data scientist

The role and focus of the CMO is no longer about products and distribution, but is now about putting the customer at the centre of everything through utilising technology to engage customers in a very personal way with the brand. The CMO of the future must embrace marketing analytics and the ability to interpret and leverage customer data in term of behaviours, insights and patterns to grow the business.

The convergence between big data and the proliferation of digital marketing channels are driving the need for the CMO to change and embrace digital as a way of doing business. Through combining big data with mobile devices, marketers are now able to make relevant and personalised offers to customers in real time.

CMOs are increasingly needing to engage customers with declining attention spans (currently estimated at about eight seconds [1]) through an exploding world of marketing channels. This situation has been further complicated by the rise of the omni-channel era where customers want instant, consistent and up-to-date information and answers, no matter what channel they choose. This requires businesses to develop a single customer view.

The convergence of marketing with technology will drive the CMO and CIO to work together like never before, where their roles are intertwined. A fact supported by Gartner Research which found the CMO will be spending more on IT than the CIO by 2017.

Mastering technology will be essential for tomorrow’s CMO to succeed as they use technology and data to enhance the customer experience.

2. Part business leader/strategist and innovator

The CMO of the future will need to take a broader organisational role beyond the marketing department to become a business leader and strategist that links marketing to business results. CMOs of the future will expand their role beyond marketing to increasingly invest more time in general management and the strategies that define the business operations.

Of all the C-suite within an organisation, the CMO best reflects the voice of the customer; the ultimate source of a company’s revenue. As a result, the CMO is best placed to identify what changes are necessary for an organisation based on deep insights into customer behaviours and market trends and to motivate and help drive the required changes through the organisation [2].

Increasingly the CMO will need to build relationships, educate and influence internal stakeholders, particularly their C-suite peers of the CEO, CFO and CIO, taking some of the vagueness out of marketing to demonstrate ROI and a clear impact on the bottom line. They will also need to build relationships with strategic partners to help drive product innovation, extend marketing resources and grow the customer base.

Innovation will be a key focus of the future CMO, as they help develop new products and services, based on real-time customer-driven data insights, that engage customers in a relevant and meaningful way and ultimately take the business to the next level.

3. Part coach/mentor and student

The future success of marketing is in the hands of the Millennials (those born after 1980) – a generation that will demand a dynamic CMO to attract, motivate and retain them. One who can not only lead, but empower, coach and mentor. Millennials want to be challenged and pushed to perform and they like to win [3]. The CMO will need to set clear and high standards which are linked to professional training, mentoring and coaching.

The CMO of the future must also continue to educate themselves and update their skills as things are changing so rapidly in the digital space a marketer’s skills can quickly become obsolete.

As we move towards the brave new world of marketing, the role of the future CMO is best summed up by Sheryl Pattek, vice-president and principal analyst serving CMO professionals at Forrester Research, who identifies seven necessities for CMOs to thrive tomorrow [4]:

• Have a customer orientation, not a brand orientation.
• Have an analytic mindset.
• Be a savvy technologist.
• Possess digital know-how.
• Be fanatical about innovation.
• Be a broad business leader.
• Be a relationship builder.

To paraphrase the words from the famous opening sequence of The Six Million Dollar Man: “Gentleman we can rebuild him, we have the technology … we have the capability to make the CMO of the future … better than he was before … better, stronger, faster …”

Buckle up, it’s going to be an exciting ride!

[1] “Your CMO is changing” – presentation by Sheryl Pattek, Forrester forum for e-business and channel strategy professionals, 28 October, 2014.

[2] “The rebirth of the CMO” – Peter Dahlstrom et al, Harvard Business Review, 5 August 2014.

[3] “What’s with the Millennials?” – Mike Carlton, Carlton Associates Inc, 6 November 2014.

[4] “Your CMO is changing” – presentation by Sheryl Pattek, Forrester forum for e-business and channel strategy professionals, 28 October, 2014.

Phil Whittaker is chief marketing officer of Themed Attractions and Resorts Sdn Bhd.

This article was from Marketing Magazine’s special edition The Futurist, the January-February 2015 issue.

Other stories from The Futurist:

Getting up close and personal by Mike King of IKEA Singapore
Still a touch ‘Mad’ but not for long by Anna Bory of Audi
The death of traditional and digital marketing, by Rahul Asthana of Kimberly-Clark
Up, up and away with Millennials, by Rick Harvey Lam of Accor Luxury and Upscale Brands
Welcome to the ‘third age of travel’ by Karun Budhraja of Amadeus Asia
The future(s) of B2B marketing by Andrea Lin of Citi
The mobile customer experience will fuel digital transformation in Asia Pacific by Forrester
Communicate… or die by Greg Klayton of Kadence
4 tips to becoming “2015 Marketer of the Year” by Ambrish Jain of Lenovo
What’s a bad personality trait for a marketer? by Abdul Rahim Bawa of MasterCard
How does a mobile led future look like? By Rohit Dadwal of the Mobile Marketing Association
Do you have the skills to be a futuristic marketer? by Marcus Chew of NTUC Income
Marketing will soon be everybody’s job by Alvin Neo of Integrated Healthcare Holdings/Parkway Pantai.
From mad men to math men: How marketers need to evolve by Anthony Shiner of Singtel
Stop selling media, start selling ideas by Geoff Tan of Singapore Press Holdings
Beyond big data: Sony Mobile’s tech-focused approach to marketing by Chang Seng Hock of Sony Mobile
Lessons in making the CMO-CIO relationship work by Julie Woods-Moss of Tata Communications

For the full issue, click here.