A recent study tracked CMOs at 100 leading consumer companies and found that the average tenure in 2007 was 26.8 months—compared to 23.2 months in 2006, 23.5 months in 2005 and 23.6 in 2004.
That’s not a long time. In fact, it’s less than half of the average tenure for a CEO.
My last blog post certainly gave my perspective as it relates to the Canadian high technology scene and the understanding of the role of Marketing. That said, success in the Marketing executive ranks remains solely with the Marketing executive; nobody else can be blamed.
According to a recent CMO Council report, Define & Align the CMO, the most successful CMOs bring a strategic long-term view, exceptional measurement and analytical capabilities, and financial management rigor to their role.
Let me ask you this; when was the last time you rattled off the financial objectives of the company, relative to the business plan, and explained how your initiatives are tracking to achieving those goals? It’s a loaded question. Let’s break this down. Firstly, are you measuring your progress? Do you understand Finance? Are you a “quant geek” capable of demonstrating your quantitative analysis skills before you exhibit your design sensibilities? Secondly, do you know the business goals? In other words are you part of the planning process and do you ensure all of your employees know the goals and that each of your campaigns or tactics are designed to achieve the goals? Thirdly, do you understand how your individual marketing tactics coordinate with Sales and Services and Development and Channels and Operations to achieve the long term vision you have for the company? In other words are you thinking strategically? I liken it to a chess game; each campaign or tactic is a piece on the board and, when executed properly, will ultimately result in you capturing the other player’s king and winning the match.
Unlike a CMO, a VP of Marketing operates tactically. Their primary focus is on execution. They are viewed as a cog in the corporate wheel by their peers and by the employees. A CMO brings a holistic perspective and understands it is their role to orchestrate all assets available to them - including the Board - to achieve the goal.
According to Tim Furey, CEO of MarketBridge and a co-sponsor of the CMO Council study, CMO’s with greater quantitative focus and measurement emphasis have a significantly longer expected tenure - greater than 20 percent longer!
CMO’s with agency backgrounds are being replaced by those with a broader career experience across several disciplines, “particularly sales management, product management, and in some cases even financial analysis”.
So what’s the caveat in all of this for the professional Marketer? It’s simple: do the CEO, the executive team, and the board of directors have this same understanding of the role of the CMO? If not, perhaps the biggest reason CMO’s have such a short tenure is because they make the mistake of not assessing their future employer.