I am a strong believer in the strategic importance of marketing – so it may seen a little odd that I am conflicted about the importance of companies having a Chief Marketing Officer.
Let me explain my thinking – the ideal scenario is that marketing (defined as a focus on the creation of customer value, and the definition of a powerful go-to-market strategy) is so embedded in the thinking of the executive leadership team that there is no need for someone to be designated as “chief marketing officer.” All major decisions are already debated using the twin lenses of customer value and shareholder value.
From this perspective, the creation of an executive-level CMO position is an explicit recognition that a company does not naturally see things through the lens of customer value, and needs to delegate a specific individual to play that (remedial) role. No wonder that the average tenure of a CMO is so short!
