Creativity Has to Be a CMO's Core Competency†

Harley-Davidson's Top Marketer on How Not to Strangle Ideas and, in Turn, Business Resu

Advertising Age, September 8, 2008 — So, I shot my mouth off at a Spencer Stuart CMO conference recently, wondering aloud why CMOs did not select "creativity" as a core competency for the successful CMO ("As If You Didn't Know By Now, It's About the Bottom Line for CMOs,". And as sometimes happens when spouting, Ad Age called me on it and asked me to back up my view. What I will do here is explain, but also expand on my view that creativity (without quotations needed) is as much a core skill set for a successful CMO as a results orientation. In fact, it may be the key differentiator between business success and failure.