CMOs Rising: Are We The New Chief Innovation And Data Officers?

As technology keeps upping the ante on marketing, how should the CMO adapt to thrive in this rapidly evolving new reality?

The new digital landscape presents an exciting time for CMOs and their teams as they gain access to more customer information than ever before and an ever-expanding set of ways to interact instantly with consumers.

But these advancements can be a double-edged sword: Just as quickly and easily as brands can delight a customer with the right offer and exceptional user experience, they can blow it with an ill-timed, misplaced, or miscalculated attempt. So as technology keeps upping the ante on marketing, how should the CMO adapt to thrive in this rapidly evolving new reality?

At next week’s FutureM conference in Boston, a panel of progressive CMOs will profile the CMO of the future: What will their roles look like five or 10 years from now, what skills will they need, how will their responsibilities dovetail with CIOs and CTOs (or will they?), and what challenges will they face?

Here’s something we know for sure: Digitally empowered consumers already expect significantly more from brands than they did five years ago. They want you to remember who they are, what they like, and how they like it. This shift to intelligent customer experience diminishes the message and exalts the interaction. It requires a new marketing blueprint where the customer comes first, and the CMO’s strategies and processes must be remodeled to fit this customer-centric framework.

The Era Of The Curious CMO

Norman de Greve, CMO of CVS, recently shared with me his take on the skills CMOs will need to possess moving forward. He said, “While some [traditional] skills will remain important, they will need to add new skills, such as a passion for innovation, an interest in the possibilities of data, and the skills to create a unique and valued customer experience that delivers the brand.”

De Greve emphasized the growing importance of bringing a sense of curiosity and innovation to the senior marketing role: “I encourage marketers to bring their curiosity about technology, data, media, and experience, and combine that with an entrepreneurial spirit to try things that will build exceptionally human connections.”

The tools of the curious CMO start with data. “Who are your customers really and what are their priorities,” are questions to consider, de Greve said. You cannot know these things without establishing the best data-gathering processes. Then you need the technology—real-time analytics, data governance, IoT, beacons, QR codes, etc.—to quickly and efficiently use that data to deliver meaningful personalization on a massive scale.

But even beyond what most of us think of as technologies directly impacting marketing, thought leaders such as David Kenny, general manager, IBM Watson, urges marketers to think across a larger landscape.

“I am excited by the challenge of instant gratification in every aspect of marketing,” he said. “The continued growth in on-demand and sharing take people through the entire shopping funnel in a nanosecond.” Kenny points to the advancement of robots and cognitive tools that will make it easier for consumers to “try before they buy” as an area of tremendous new possibilities for marketers.

These are skills and experiences that still make many CMOs squirm. Instead, they need to own them. Only when they own these aspects of their business can they gain the insights needed to do their jobs and successfully create an emotional connection with the customer that draws them in and keeps them coming back.

As Kenny suggested, marketers need to focus on the enduring truths about their brands, while being nimble in adopting new channels and marketing approaches. “Media and platforms are evolving at an amazing rate now,” he said.

Despite the unnerving acceleration of change and expanding field of communication channels, CMOs will be the ones with their hands steady on the wheel because brand purpose will always remain at the core of the ecosystem. As de Greve put it, it’s through that lens of brand promise that marketers will need to “navigate relationships across channels and options to build connections that endure in a constantly changing world.”