The 2023 Marketing Capabilities Framework

Talent Drives Growth

June 19, 2023

As organizations look to build critical marketing excellence that drives sustainable and profitable growth, the ANA and the ANA Global CMO Growth Council have developed a first-of-its-kind talent resource. The 2023 Marketing Capabilities Framework provides marketing leaders with an industry-wide playbook to elevate modern marketing talent, ultimately driving growth for their organizations and our industry.

A new dynamic has emerged between talent and employers that has resulted in a shift away from "talent management" toward "talent empowerment." And, today, marketing capabilities — as a focus of business investment — are seeing exponential growth. Whether in the face of increased competition and the need to build competitive advantage, or in response to talent migrations associated with the Great Resignation and gen Z, marketing organizations around the world are placing increased emphasis on talent investments to drive growth.

Modern Marketing Talent Benchmarks Identified

Based on data from leading global brands across media, CPG, nonprofit, finance, tech, and health care sectors, with qualitative inputs from over 40 CMOs and marketing leaders, this Playbook provides a comprehensive framework for identifying the industry benchmarks for marketing capabilities.

Designed to provide marketing leaders with a data-based reference point to benchmark existing talent strategy, approaches, and tools, the Framework can also serve as a starting place to inspire and support new talent development endeavors and resource allocation. It is intended to be used as a reference for brand talent development and retention strategies. It can also be adapted to suit your specific business reality.

Alignment with the Industry Growth Agenda

Using the ANA Industry Growth Agenda as our marketing capabilities North Star, we mapped modern marketing skill sets to key priority competencies, identified by CMOs around the world. Each classification is defined in detail in the Framework, including sub-set skills, areas of overlap, and the resulting implications for organization management:

Technical Quotient Competencies:

Brand, Creativity, and Media
Data, Technology, and Measurement
Talent and Marketing Organization
Society and Sustainability

Human Quotient Competencies:

Cognitive Chops
Creative DNA
People Skills
Personal Traits

Furthermore, we recognized that some skills should be considered required — at least at an acumen level — across all functions, regardless of industry, business classification, or marketer career level. These skills are classified as Foundational Skills.

Modern Marketer Archetypes

The Framework also identifies Five Modern Marketer Archetypes that will enable brands to visualize and implement this tool across their marketing organizations and staffing plans. It also provides excellent insight for career marketers as well as those new to the profession into how they can develop to succeed in their desired career path.

Download your copy of the 2023 Marketing Capabilities Framework today.

To speak with the ANA about implementing the Framework at your organization, email training@ana.net.