The changing influence of the chief marketing officer

During the first half of 2006, we interviewed over 30 chief marketing officers from major UK businesses, most of them FTSE 50 companies. We wanted to test our hypothesis that the role of the chief marketing officer (CMO) has been steadily evolving from its traditional roots in advertising and brand development towards a more broad-based, commercially oriented and demanding role requiring a rare combination of leadership, creative, analytical and financial skills. We wanted to find out from some of the UK’s most accomplished and high profile marketers how the rulebook has changed and to explore how the CMO can build credibility and exert influence in the business. So, as well as exploring the nature of the role, we talked to CMOs about impact, accountability, tenure, compensation, team building, succession planning and career development.

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