• by Maarten Albarda , Featured Contributor, September 26, 2025

I have written before about the identity crisis that has been brewing in the C-suite. CMOs, once the master of the famous 4 Ps (product, price, place, promotion), have seen their empire steadily erode. The rise of the chief commercial officer has claimed pricing and retail/sales strategy. The chief data officer or CTO often owns analytics and customer insight. Even innovation is often assigned to a chief brand innovation officer.

I believe that these changes are partly why CMOs are finding it hard to gain a strong voice in the C-suite, and also why they are seen as easily replaceable (they are the pretty picture people, and the role can’t be that hard, can it?)

Without these functions, many CMOs are probably wondering: What, exactly, is left? The answer isn’t to fight the losing battle for lost turf. It's to embrace the new reality and claim the most powerful territory of all: the message. The "M" in CMO no longer stands for marketing; it should stand for messaging.

This shift isn't a demotion but a critical specialization, aligned with where the marketing and advertising world has evolved. While other C-suite members focus on the how, where, and how much, chief messaging officers must own the story. They are the keeper of the brand's soul, the chief storytellers responsible for weaving a narrative that connects, inspires, and drives growth.

I recently listened to "Creativity for Growth,” a presentation by advertising legend Sir John Hegarty (The “H” in one of the UK’s most famed agencies, Bartle Bogle Hegarty, owned by Publicis). He frames creativity as the act of "thinking differently,” and makes the case that it isn't a fluffy nice-to-have, but a "business-critical skill and fundamental for growth.” In a marketplace of product parity and algorithmic advertising, a unique and compelling story is the ultimate competitive advantage.

The data he shares backs this up: A McKinsey & Company study found companies that truly engaged with creativity were 16% more innovative, and saw 70% above-average total returns to shareholders.

So, what does it mean to be a chief messaging officer? It means being the master of the creative process. The CMO's new mandate is to define the truth, develop the idea, and master the story, crafting the narrative that delivers this idea to the world with emotional resonance.

CMOs are the conductors of the brand orchestra, ensuring every single touchpoint -- from a TV spot to a customer service contract -- plays the same music. They are the ones who, as Hegarty puts it, turn "intelligence into magic."

Creativity here is not just the crafting of messages, it is the full orchestration of content and touchpoints, across all relevant channels and platforms. And that also includes selecting, inspiring and evaluating the performance of the CMO’s  partners in crime: the agencies and others that help in the development and delivery of messaging.

The unbundling of the traditional marketing role isn't the end of the CMO. It's a clarification. It frees the modern CMO to focus on the one thing that no other C-suite member is better equipped to handle: building the brand's story in a creative, compelling and sales-supportive way. It’s time to stop mourning the past and embrace the future as the C-suite’s indispensable chief messaging officer.