• by Steve Cody , Francesco Lagutaine , February 6, 2024

Anyone who read this recent Fortune articleis likely still searching the floor for where their jaw dropped. The writer presents a handful of companies eliminating the chief marketing officer role as evidence that the position is losing its “C-suite clout.” The piece cites cost-cutting as a key reason some enterprises are redistributing the CMO’s duties to other leaders, such as the chief strategy officer.

But we’re here to insist that (paraphrasing Mark Twain) the death of the CMO has been greatly exaggerated. In fact, savvy organizations and their leaders know that the role is more important today than ever. Any enterprise jettisoning its CMO for short-term cost reduction is the epitome of penny-wise and pound-foolish.

For any business to be successful, it must achieve balance -- driving the supply of innovative products and /or services, while also driving demand for them. The reality is that among the C-suite there are only two executives laser-focused on the demand side of the equation: the CMO and the chief communications officer. They live and die by their ability to gauge what current and prospective buyers want. As gurus of boosting awareness and consideration, they are very much the drivers of growth.

That’s critically important today, because the concept of brand loyalty is becoming obsolete. In the U.S, the number of consumers who consider themselves loyal to specific retailers, brands or stores fell 14% from 2022 to 2023, according to the SAP Emarsys Customer LoyaltyIndex 2023. Simultaneously, consumers are demanding more in exchange for their devotion, with 46% saying they want personalized offers and discounts. Only the CMO has the expertise and background to successfully address and hold onto increasingly fickle buyers.

Another reason the CMO and CCO roles are imperative now is because the idea of a business having a unique value proposition is going the way of the dinosaur. Many of yesterday’s differentiators are becoming commoditized today -- thanks, in part, to advancements in AI. AI is quickly learning to help entrepreneurs design and develop new products and services to disrupt industry leaders.

But sharp CMOs can leverage big data, analytics and their own hard-won experience (which most disruptors simply lack) to measure and anticipate future needs and wants in the marketplace. Leading CMOs have become the champions of creativity and standing out by continually delivering unexpected twists that heighten awareness and consideration.

For example, one company in a commoditized market found its customers and their communities had the greatest influence on consumer purchase decisions. So the company’s marketing team created programs to leverage stories of engaging with their customers and their communities and deployed them as assets to deepen relationships with existing customers and attract new ones. The company realized that “marketing to our customers” meant offering solutions going much further than its traditional industry products and services, instead showing how profoundly the company is committed to its customers’ success.

We see examples of innovative approaches like this from CMOs and their teams every day. In fact, we might agree with the Fortune article that the CMO role is indeed changing. But it’s not going away. In fact, CMOs are becoming chief revenue officers or chief growth officers at forward-thinking organizations that realize the expanding importance of leaders who have their fingers on the pulse of today’s and tomorrow’s buyers.