The Future CMO

For the seventh consecutive year, the Global CMO Growth Council convened its leadership community at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. This pivotal forum brought together CMOs from top brands around the world to share progress and prioritize leadership initiatives for the remainder of 2024.

As digital experiences continue to influence how brands interact with consumers, paradoxically, human experiences are more critical than ever to building the strong emotional connections required to secure purchase and loyalty.

The emergence of generative AI is the defining feature of 2023 and 2024, in both a broad cultural context as well as within the world of data-driven marketing. Initially, like many other trends, marketers gravitated towards gen AI’s most apparent initial applications — copywriting, research, and image generation. But as this year unfolded, a shift occurred. Marketers began to recognize and harness less obvious applications of gen AI, marking a significant evolution that we can expect to carry forward.

You would need to have been on Mars to avoid the onslaught of news stories and startup launches in the AI space, but there remains a paucity of good perspective on the implications for marketing. Technology has become an extension of humans for many years starting with the personal computer evolving to the www and then the smartphone. AI is no different but arguably represents a more fundamental and tectonic shift as it is not purely behavioral, it is a new form of intelligence, meaning limitless applications.

According to our 2024 survey in partnership with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), of over 200 CMOs in seven countries, CMOs increasingly view generative AI (GenAI) not only as a way to improve efficiencies but also to unlock growth.

With the looming possibility of a TikTok ban in the United States, businesses heavily reliant on this platform must swiftly and strategically pivot to maintain their competitive edge. As marketers, we need robust strategies for adapting digital marketing efforts to thrive, even in TikTok's potential absence. Let’s jump in.

Most marketers are drawn to new things. They enjoy finding new ways to engage with audiences or leveraging new pieces of technology. But is this always a good thing?

Adding to the Growth Council’s Position on Generative AI, CMOs and other thought leaders have shared examples of how leading brands across many industries are successfully implementing Generative AI into their marketing strategy.

On April 25, 2024, the Global CMO Growth Council Leadership Assembly convened over 100 CMO delegates at the PwC Experience Center in New York to review progress on the key initiatives that are driving the marketing industry’s growth agenda forward.

Staying ahead of an increasingly complex marketplace requires advanced capabilities in three key areas. It’s not easy being a retailer’s chief marketing officer these days, due to the following reasons discussed in this piece.

In his remarks at the ANA’s 2024 Advertising Financial Management Conference, ANA CEO Bob Liodice shared the results of a survey of CMO’s that illuminates their investment priorities.

Recent news that UPS and Etsy parted ways with their CMOs and weren’t going to replace them caused eyebrows to raise across the industry. And when Professor Scott Galloway declared that “CMOs are dead in 18 months or less,” our chins hit the floor! And all of this was before Starbucks recently dropped its CMO role.

The business buyer is taking longer to purchase, budgets are tighter, and buyer behavior has shifted online. This presents opportunities and challenges, and it's critical that CMOs and CROs are aligned.

Ryan Kutscher, founder and CEO of ad agency Launch Party, says we’re moving into the era of niche marketing. So why are so many agencies and companies resisting the trend? Kutscher says fear is the driving factor.

If there’s one thing that those of us who have had the privilege to serve alongside the top CMOs and leadership teams know, it is that the best of us consistently find ways to confront disruptive 800-pound gorillas throughout our career journeys – often, together.

An essential part of a CMOs job is not only getting the work done, but making sure the work provides value and meaning for the consumer, meeting their needs and pain points, while also leveraging team skills, time, and budget efficiently. This is why Jenny Wall, CMO at VideoAmp, believes CMOs are the “voice of customers” and “unsung revenue heroes for advertising.”

What is a legacy leader made of? Mark Miller, coauthor of Legacy in the Making: Building a Long-Term Brand to Stand Out in a Short-Term World, has spent years trying to figure that out. Here, he shares the five traits he believes all legacy leaders possess.

Agency Boathouse recently released its report, “The Third Annual CEO Study on Marketing and the CMO,” which shared illuminating and fascinating insights into the CEO mindset.

Talon’s CMO Guide to effective OOH advertising offers insights, statistics, and case studies around getting the most out of OOH.

During the 2023 ANA Global CMO Growth Summit, Jann Schwarz shared new research from the LinkedIn B2B Institute in partnership with Roger Martin. Fuel your brand growth strategy by moving from a “brand promise” to a “customer promise.”