‘Classic’ Books Are Great—Not So Much For CMOs

Hierarchical command and control structures don’t work anymore. The mission of the “modern” CMO is to facilitate, to provide the tools and the latitude for everyone involved.

To many “classic” CMOs, the world of today is a pretty scary place. Everything has been turned upside down: the computers tell you what to do, not the other way around. Worse still, who are these salespeople demanding that marketing delivers? Sales and customers are demanding … well, everything! So ugly. So sad.

You may find yourself clinging on to the life raft that is your job title and actively trying to remain valuable to an organisation and audience that seems to be way off on the horizon.

OK—perhaps, that’s a bit extreme, but the reality is we have all largely been brought up on hierarchical command-and-control structures. You can’t run a good campaign without the top brass, right? Wrong. That model is no longer tenable. Exaggerating to make the point but—if you require 20 sets of approvals for one tweet three weeks later, you are in the wrong century.

So how do you know if you are “classic?”

It’s Got To Be “Perfect”

Being the beholder and definer of beauty doesn’t necessarily work anymore. Your eyes are not the same as your consumers’, and the way you’ve seen your brand isn’t necessarily how others see you. In order to succeed, you may well have to put aside your hard-learnt critical view and embrace a different approach recognising that all communication is not equal and doesn’t have to go through the same rigour. “Throw away” comms can be a bitter pill to swallow and, yet, is required if you are going to maintain a fluidity in our fast-moving world.

Focus But Don’t Ignore

We all have to make decisions about who we are talking to and what we want them to do. We build profiles and personas of our core segments to help build empathy. Those, however, are only guides. If your target is ignoring you, yet there is another group who aren’t, perhaps, core but are totally engaged, then you have to think about why—and engage with them. “Classic” behaviour is a myopic focus on the segments you find most interesting to the detriment or potentially even alienation of those who are most likely to buy.

I Told You So

Basking in someone else’s failure is rarely a good look. You can no longer afford the stance that other people’s initiatives are worth less than your own. I personally love the phrase “it’s better to beg forgiveness than seek permission,” but if they have to beg to you, then you have a problem. Embracing today and tomorrow means embracing risk, trying new things out, and learning as you go. If things don’t work, understanding why is even more important than looking at why they worked. Encouraging an open environment where people aren’t afraid to try is your responsibility, and if that means occasionally embracing your staff’s potentially idiotic ideas with an open mind and an open heart, then do it. You may well be surprised at how well that can work out.

Too Little Too Late

There is nothing worse than inserting yourself at the end of a process to add your tuppence when everybody has been busting a gut. Your input is neither timely nor welcome. One well-considered comment earlier would save weeks of work. If you don’t feel you should contribute to the output, then really … Why?

Damning With No Praise

If your feedback is limited to “I’ll know it when I see it,” also known as “meh,” then you are genuinely not in the right job anymore. Providing both staff and agencies valueless, minimal, negative feedback is a significant barrier and, as a control method, deeply ineffective. If you can’t explain in detail the problem or suggest alternatives, then don’t say anything at all. For everyone in the system, it’s highly disheartening and often destructive to force iterations without insight.

Don’t Deny Your Robot Overlord

The “modern” CMO recognises they are there to facilitate, to provide the tools and the latitude, so everyone involved can make better decisions more quickly and get better results more often. Their job is to turn “real time” into a recipe for success. This means having a good understanding of what the right tools for the job are. This, of course, means you must use the systems you inflict on others too. I was never a fan of the term “marketing automation” in and of itself, but the reality is that, if everyone knows what’s going on—where—and is enabled to do something about it, then you get to a win-win situation quickly. Everyone in your marketing structure will be engaged, motivated, and passionate about the business again.

The Buck Also Starts With You

If you define your value purely as “the manager,” “the gatekeeper,” or “the accountant,” then you are missing out as “the voice of reason,” “the hussler,” and “the experienced shortcut” who can help get better things out of the door more quickly and sell more. That’s your job, and that’s what you’ll be measured against.

If any of these traits are familiar, then you may want to reconsider your management style. You are still ultimately responsible for the marketing output, but how you get there requires a more flexible, collaborative, and nurturing approach than you may have considered in the past.

Breaking habits is never easy, especially the ones that most likely got you the job in the first place, so try simply replacing some of them with more positive ones. Stepping back a bit can mean a great big leap forward for everyone else.