Chief marketing officers have more influence in their organizations than ever before. Working with their C-suite colleagues, they are on the front lines of almost all of the forces affecting organizations today — including diversity and inclusion, sustainability, purpose and more. Amid these forces, forging the CMO agenda has become even more challenging. It’s also more complex, having to take into account digital transformation, stakeholder capitalism, dwindling attention spans and the need to drive growth through more diverse customer experiences.
CMO agendas will differ based on industry sector, market needs, company culture and history, current organizational structures, CEO preferences, specific leadership dynamics and the CMOs own capabilities. But all CMOs should be sharpening their marketing agenda by educating company leaders on the changing landscape and working with them to craft proactive and flexible marketing plans.
CMOs even a decade ago could not possibly execute against all the possibilities that were on the potential marketing map. Yet successful CMOs figured it out to drive success for their organizations. Today, against the backdrop of a vaster and more complex environment, a CMO — working with their CEO and the leadership team — must define their charter with far more clarity.
Read more about what CMOs need to do to shape an effective agenda in Ad Age.