There was an article in AdAge on October 11th that posed hypotheses about CMO’s and their ability to keep up with our industry’s changing landscape.  There were two key areas that are causing this question:

1.   Technology/Data:  new devices, social media, media channels and the requirement to measure and validate all expenditures.
2.   CMO’s true ownership of four key marketing areas:  promotion, products, place and price.

Pile and Company is involved with CMO’s in every industry, so we get a first-hand look at how they are fairing.  

Keeping up with technology and data is surely a challenge.  CMO’s depend on their agencies to be ahead of the curve and educate them on the current and future trends and implications on their marketing efforts.  Beyond that they are only learning from personal experience or what they read.  Their biggest road block is time.  They don’t have time to write blogs, track blogs, get involved with social media or keep up with how their target is using all of the above.  

But beyond just their personal knowledge, CMO’s are dealing with the rest of their organization.  If they are responsible for educating and implementing programs company-wide, they are faced with even more time-starved challenges.

We haven’t even talked about data yet.  The complexities of determining the ROI of different programs can be monumental.  How do they stay on top of that?

Then there is the question of whether CMO’s are really in charge of the four P’s.  Again, our experience shows that it ranges significantly.  But more often than not, the answer is no.  

There is not enough time or room on this blog to dissect this topic further.  I don’t have the answer, do you?