If you want to be a CEO then maybe think about a stint in a creative agency
Thinkerbell’s Adam Ferrier says the CMO and their understanding of brand and creativity, or consumers and emotions are now becoming the new wave of CEO.
So last week something interesting happened Nicole Sparshott won CEO Magazine’s CEO Of The Year. Nicky is living proof that business culture in Australia has done a 180 and it’s a bloody exciting time to be in marketing, if know how to build a brand.
When I first started in this industry advertising people were trying to always understand the language of the CMO. The CMO however, was looking up desperately trying to understand the language of their CEO and ultimately the board. The CMO’s all went on ‘company directors’ courses, and took night lessons in finance. However, the board refused to take them seriously and they were forever known as ‘the colouring in department’.
However, in nearly all areas of business this has changed significantly (except for struggling tech companies I’ll get onto those in a bit), and it’s the person who best understands brand who is rising to the top of the tree.
Are there numbers on this or is this just a vibe you’re getting?
Hi Product management guy can you look at the top CMO’s from this year vs 15 years and cross check their linkedin profiles to see if they have more agency experience than they used to. All for the sake of an opinion piece? (although you may also want to cross check that with the data of CEO’s who now have a CMO back ground vs 15 years ago). Or alternatively write an article on your professional judgement (without over-claiming or stating things as fact (its an opinion) on how you see the industry shifting – and spike a conversation.
Love this and agree the best cmos are all ex agency
“They think a good tech platform is the answer to everything.” I think they think a good product is the answer to everything, and it does answer a lot. Steph Tully spoke about this during her time at Qantas – marketing didn’t matter till the product and experience was right. Only then was it worth pushing brand messaging out into the world.
And while there are skills in agencies which can be hugely valuable, the way agencies are run as a business is certainly not the model to use as CEO in another industry. We’re still playing checkers here.
Hi random dude, its all marketing – its not either or. You dont have to say we have a good product and leave it at that. You can say we have a good product AND we have brilliant marketing. Why wouldn’t you?