CMO should be a mindset, not a designation

Nostradamus predicted that the world is going to end soon. Whenever there are elections we start predicting which party is going to vanish for sure. Virat and Rohit are not relevant in the team now; they should leave with pride before they are asked to leave. I like this kind of debate not because it provides gossip but if you take it in the right spirit, it allows you to think differently. Rather, it allows you to understand the real problem, the root cause for the topic floating around and try thinking for a solution. 

Similarly, in our profession, we come across such debates time and again owing to the dynamic nature of the industry. When the electronic medium gained momentum, people started talking about the dying of print. When digital mediums emerged people started predicting the same for print and electronic media. But, the reality is that all mediums are still alive and digital businesses like Google, YouTube, and Meta use these prime offline mediums to promote them. Likewise, the debate we counter is the relevance of a CMO in today’s digital era. 

Before we get into talking more about it, I would like to share a few examples:

1. Someone I know who used to work in some department of a leading biscuit and packaged drinking water manufacturer of this country. He told me that the owner of the company comparatively used to interact less with other departments but often he is seen with the marketing team. He used to take personal interest in marketing and was a firm believer of that.

2. I have heard this from many people that when Steve Jobs came back to lead Apple, he stated the condition that he would personally be involved in product development and marketing. We all know him as a great marketer. 

3. The current PM of India, apart from all round personality, character, skills and intelligence, we can see his marketing genius in portraying India at the global forums.

What’s the common in the above three examples? All three leaders are leading or have led their respective organisations and have played a role of marketing head or in today’s corporate terminology CMO.

Point is, if a CMO is seen as a designation, it will come with a defined scope and chances are that it will become irrelevant or be replaceable. If it’s seen as a “mindset”, nothing or no one can replace them and a CMO will never be irrelevant. We can see the same in the above three examples.  

If we can look at the root cause of the question about the relevancy of a CMO in the digital era, it is because as a marketing professional, we have generally thought about campaigns, creative developments and media planning. Yes, we have observed importance being given to brand building as well. So, why this question? Digital comes with performance, which means results. Results are not only about reach, OTS and likeability, but also about ROI, sales generated, revenue impacted, improved bottom lines and so on. 

This parameter was always there but never projected up front. Revenue, sales etc. was always seen as the sales and business department’s job. Not saying all CMOs are or were like that but the majority followed that. In our marketing terminology, that’s the perception about the marketing head and department, that they manage campaigns. 

So, 'ownership' was never there in terms of delivering results which impacted businesses positively. D2C brands and online sales have changed the dynamics of doing business. Thanks to digital, everything is measured and linked to ROI, which should be the right way of doing business. The focus of the majority of brands in terms of sales channels and promotions has shifted towards digital. Data is available where we can see that online sales contribute in double digits of overall revenue and this will increase year on year. 

So, what is required? Many people have spoken about it that we as marketing professionals need to change with time, think digital else we will be out of the race. I strongly believe at such time we need to follow the fundamentals of branding & marketing to make it relevant,

1. As mentioned above, develop the mindset of an entrepreneur. For marketing guys, this should be the must-have skill. 

2. Think beyond developing campaigns one after the other.

3. Lead the activities through the lens of generating revenue or so to say ROI. 

4. Take ownership and make every penny count. 

We will always have to balance the online and offline ways of doing business. Now just think, when products and services are getting sold online, the majority of new-age D2C brands sell online through marketplaces and their own platforms, are there so many sales professionals involved in this journey? It gets sold with how many salespeople’s intervention? There are no apparent sales executives, area sales managers, regional sales heads, national sales heads, dealers, distributors, agents and so on. Have we ever heard this murmur about this department of the organisation being irrelevant? Ideally, through digital emergence, the question should have been for them but the question is directed to the marketing department. Why? Again, this perception of not contributing to the business. Which is not true we all know.

 So, what’s the way forward:

1. The great weapon we have is data and who will master, will rule the jungle. They need to ensure that every strategy is backed by insights, blending creativity with data to achieve impactful results.

2. Brand building and sales-related activities to be well balanced.

3. Reduce demographics jargon and more persona portrayal.

4. Not translating campaigns but localised campaigns to build relevance through local culture.

5. Whatever level we are at, do not shy to accept our ignorance, with change in time things will evolve and not necessarily we can know all. So be curious and ask questions.

6. Most importantly, stop working in silos or an independent department. Work as a team as with changing times, even newer departments are emerging. So, with various skill sets one can collaborate to solve complex marketing problems

In conclusion; the role of marketing has become more ownership driven which has been linked to generating revenues. In no era, marketing will be dispensable or become irrelevant, but for that marketing professionals will have to stop referring to themselves as 'Chief Marketing Officers' and start thinking that they are 'Chief Mindset Officer'.

This article is penned by Sameer Joshi, Founding Partner, Sam & Andy

Disclaimer: The article features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the stance of the publication.