Kimberly A. Whitler

Neil A. Morgan

<article-ideainbrief class="article-ideainbrief">
 <h4 class="ideainbrief-title">In Brief</h4>
 <div class="ideainbrief-contents">
  <h5>The Problem</h5>
  <p>Four-fifths of CEOs are dissatisfied with their firms’ chief marketing officers. Not surprisingly, CMOs have the highest turnover in the C-suite.</p>
  <h5>Why it Happens</h5>
  <p>Most CMO jobs are poorly designed. The expectations set for the role don’t align with the responsibilities given or the metrics for success.</p>
  <h5>The Solution</h5>
  <p>CEOs must decide which type of CMO they need: a strategist, who makes decisions about the firm’s positioning and products; a commercializer, who drives sales through marketing communications; or an enterprise-wide leader with P&amp;L responsibility, who does both. Recruiters should guide them through this choice and help design the job appropriately, and CMO candidates must ensure they understand the role before signing on.</p>
 </div>
</article-ideainbrief><p>In 2012 a leading retailer began looking for a new chief marketing officer. The job description made the opening sound exciting: The new CMO would play a big, important role, leading the company’s efforts to boost revenues and profits. It seemed like the kind of opportunity any would-be CMO might desire.</p>

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Why CMOs Never Last

The Power Partnership

Reflections of a Six-Time CMO

Reducing CMO Turnover

The Evolution of the CMO

The Trouble with CMOs

<p>Why CMOs Never Last</p>
<p>Something is deeply amiss in the relationship between chief executives and their top marketing officers. Eighty percent of CEOs say they don&#8217;t trust or are unimpressed by their CMOs. Not surprisingly, CMOs have the briefest tenure in the C-suite. The churn can lead to serious internal business disruptions.<br />
What can be done to end this dysfunctional pattern? Kimberly A. Whitler, a former CMO who&#8217;s now an assistant professor at the University of Virginia&#8217;s Darden School, and Neil Morgan, a marketing professor at Indiana University, have done extensive research into the problem. They believe that its main cause is faulty role design.<br />
To begin with, there&#8217;s no one clear, widely accepted answer to the question, What does a CMO do? The range of job duties and skills required are all over the map. Moreover, too often the expectations for CMOs&#8217; jobs are unrealistic and not aligned with their responsibilities and performance metrics. This unhealthy dynamic sets executives up to fail.<br />
The authors outline the steps companies should take to rectify the situation. First, they need to understand the three main kinds of CMO roles: Some focus on strategy, some on commercialization, and some&#8212;which have enterprise-wide P&#38;L responsibility&#8212;do both. It&#8217;s crucial to figure out which type of CMO a firm needs and then tailor the duties and success metrics accordingly.<br />
CMO candidates and recruiters also have a part to play in seeing that jobs are clearly defined and that new hires are good matches. The authors include checklists of questions that all parties involved in the process should be sure to ask before making any decisions.</p>
<p>The Power Partnership</p>
<p>As digital technology becomes more critical to marketing, the line between the CMO&#8217;s job and the CIO&#8217;s is blurring. Although historically these executives have tended to see the world quite differently, they now must work together on a new and very high level. Giving them shared performance goals is a great tool for sparking effective collaboration, as the experience of Regal Entertainment Group demonstrates.</p>
<p>Reflections of a Six-Time CMO</p>
<p>Joe Tripodi has served as top marketing officer of Mastercard, Seagram&#8217;s, the Bank of New York, Allstate, Coca-Cola, and Subway. In this interview he shares his thoughts on the keys to making it as CMO and on how the challenges of the job have changed since the 1980s.</p>
<p>A Recruiter&#8217;s Prescription</p>
<p>After placing nearly 500 CMOs over the past 20 years, Spencer Stuart&#8217;s Greg Welch is frustrated by how many smart executives don&#8217;t last in the position. Too often, he says, the hiring process turns into a popularity contest that favors charismatic candidates. Everyone instead needs to focus on real job specifications and setting achievable expectations. Strategic onboarding plans will also get CMOs off to faster, more-productive starts.</p>
<p>The Evolution of the CMO</p>
<p>A decade-by-decade look at how the growth of new marketing tools, channels, and challenges has expanded and reshaped the CMO&#8217;s responsibilities</p>
<p>The complete Spotlight package is available in a single reprint.</p>

Why CMOs Never Last Something is deeply amiss in the relationship between chief executives and their top marketing officers. Eighty percent of CEOs say they don’t trust or are unimpressed by their CMOs. Not surprisingly, CMOs have the briefest tenure in the C-suite. The churn can lead to serious internal business disruptions. What can be done to end this dysfunctional pattern? Kimberly A. Whitler, a former CMO who’s now an assistant professor at the University of Virginia’s Darden School, and Neil Morgan, a marketing professor at Indiana University, have done extensive research into the problem. They believe that its main cause is faulty role design. To begin with, there’s no one clear, widely accepted answer to the question, What does a CMO do? The range of job duties and skills required are all over the map. Moreover, too often the expectations for CMOs’ jobs are unrealistic and not aligned with their responsibilities and performance metrics. This unhealthy dynamic sets executives up to fail. The authors outline the steps companies should take to rectify the situation. First, they need to understand the three main kinds of CMO roles: Some focus on strategy, some on commercialization, and some—which have enterprise-wide P&L responsibility—do both. It’s crucial to figure out which type of CMO a firm needs and then tailor the duties and success metrics accordingly. CMO candidates and recruiters also have a part to play in seeing that jobs are clearly defined and that new hires are good matches. The authors include checklists of questions that all parties involved in the process should be sure to ask before making any decisions. The Power Partnership As digital technology becomes more critical to marketing, the line between the CMO’s job and the CIO’s is blurring. Although historically these executives have tended to see the world quite differently, they now must work together on a new and very high level. Giving them shared performance goals is a great tool for sparking effective collaboration, as the experience of Regal Entertainment Group demonstrates. Reflections of a Six-Time CMO Joe Tripodi has served as top marketing officer of Mastercard, Seagram’s, the Bank of New York, Allstate, Coca-Cola, and Subway. In this interview he shares his thoughts on the keys to making it as CMO and on how the challenges of the job have changed since the 1980s. A Recruiter’s Prescription After placing nearly 500 CMOs over the past 20 years, Spencer Stuart’s Greg Welch is frustrated by how many smart executives don’t last in the position. Too often, he says, the hiring process turns into a popularity contest that favors charismatic candidates. Everyone instead needs to focus on real job specifications and setting achievable expectations. Strategic onboarding plans will also get CMOs off to faster, more-productive starts. The Evolution of the CMO A decade-by-decade look at how the growth of new marketing tools, channels, and challenges has expanded and reshaped the CMO’s responsibilities The complete Spotlight package is available in a single reprint.

Why CMOs Never Last

Summary.

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