Sustaining sustainability
While short term strategies focus on immediate profits, thinking longer-term, such as taking actions that will lead to reduced carbon emissions, will spark improvements further down the line. This means that business leaders — such as the CMO — have to look for ways to strike a balance between the two objectives in order to achieve sustainable growth.
How CMOs can help do this is by exploiting their deep knowledge of consumer behaviour — detecting their preferences, deciphering market trends and, importantly, predicting what is looming over the horizon. But they can’t do this on their own. And they can’t do this without a clear understanding of the key actions and traits that will leave them best placed for success.
So, where should they focus their attention?
Stay purpose driven
The CMO’s role — both now and in 2030 — is shaped by the sheer complexity of the demands it faces. Ensuring that their organisation’s services and products chime with consumer preferences both now and in the future is a constant juggling act. One way of navigating this shifting terrain, though, is by being purpose driven — zeroing in on and staying consistent to the bedrock principles upon which their organisation is based.
Ensuring that their organisation’s services and products chime with consumer preferences both now and in the future is a constant juggling act. One way of navigating this shifting terrain, though, is by being purpose driven.
By incorporating sustainability into their purpose, CMOs — and their organisation — can stand out against their competitors while also ensuring that they are helping contribute to wellbeing for both current and future generations. This also aligns with Spencer Stuart’s Leadership Capability Assessment which identifies six capabilities that are essential to executive performance, two of which relate to driving results and leading change.
Break down silos
Many organisations are striving to break down functional silos to ensure they are better focused on the end-consumer. While such change programmes are nothing new — all successful businesses are in a state of perpetual motion to ensure they are aligned with the latest trends and priorities — the CMO has a critical role to play in driving this process forward.
Given that there is no C-suite executive more focused on the consumer, the CMO is best placed to generate better collaboration across teams, business units and geographies. It falls to them to ensure that the outputs of myriad specialist roles can come together to focus on what the consumer actually needs — both now and in the future.
Think strategically
No CMO can succeed without the ability to be an agile, forward-looking strategic leader. Using data points — often sourced from AI — and combining them with big picture societal shifts and the insights that accumulate from their own exposure to the ups and downs of the market, it is their responsibility to connect marketing strategies with business objectives over the short, medium and long-term.
Be a coordinator
As we outlined in our previous article on the 2030 CMO which looked at the role through the prism of technology, a key aspect of a CMO’s responsibilities is orchestrating the different levels of talent that exist in any diverse team. The same rule applies when considering the CMO and its intertwined relationship with sustainability.
By incorporating sustainability into their purpose, CMOs — and their organisation — can stand out against their competitors while also ensuring that they are helping contribute to wellbeing for both current and future generations.
When coordinating various elements of sustainability and societal impact, the CMO needs to bring together larger teams to cover different perspectives and expertise. Doing so requires emotional intelligence, empathy and excellent communication skills to ensure that everyone works collaboratively towards the same overall goal.
A unifying force
From climate transition to inequality, contamination to regulatory compliance, business executives have much to consider when it comes to sustainability.
Amidst the daily tumult, though, it is vital that leaders — such as the CMO — can think long-term, bring teams and individuals together and adjust their organisation’s strategy accordingly. By helping meet the evolving expectations of consumers, as well as those of employees and regulators, the spotlight on the CMO, now and in 2030, will remain intense and unrelenting.
But one suspects that talented and ambitious marketing leaders, keen to accelerate growth and contribute to a more sustainable future, wouldn’t have it any other way.
Reflections for marketing leaders
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Is there agreement amongst the C-Suite about the importance of sustainability as a core business priority?
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How can you balance the often competing demands that come from pursuing both short-term results and long-term goals?
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Does the marketing function possess the necessary skills and experience to incorporate sustainability as key driver of business value and performance?