A Plan for Spanning Silos†

No Need to Blow Them Up, but CMOs Must Foster Communication and Cooperation

Advertising Age, November 10, 2008 — Autonomous silos defined by products, countries or functions, often operating in isolation if not in competition with each other, are no longer a viable option. They can be monumentally inefficient, limit the creation of silo-spanning offerings, lead to wasteful and non-optimal resource allocation, be barriers to marketing that has scale, and create brands that are inconsistent and confused both internally and externally. In tough economic times, such inefficiencies and barriers can mean the difference between business success and disappointing marketing performance, or even failure.

However, that does not mean the answer is to blow them up, or even that the goal of the organization should be to centralize or standardize. Rather, silo-driven problems... continue reading

How to Market During a Downturn†

CMO Roundtable: Execs on Maintaining Budgets, Changing Marketing Mixes and the Challenges of 2009

Advertising Age, October 27, 2008 — Just days before the Dow suffered its largest single-day point drop ever Sept. 29, Ad Age Editor Jonah Bloom sat down with three top CMOs to talk about marketing in a recession. On hand were Ranjana Clark, senior exec VP-CMO of Wachovia Corp.; Tom O'Toole, CMO and chief information officer of Global Hyatt Corp.; and Mark Chmiel, exec VP-chief marketing and innovation officer at Denny's Corp.

Resolved to Keep on Marketing, Even in Tight-Fisted Times

New York Times, October 20, 2008 — Attendees of a big annual conference for marketers, held here last week, could have been forgiven for believing they had stumbled into a symposium for scholars of American history in the 1930s.

These are some of the words and phrases heard during the conference, the 98th annual meeting of the Association of National Advertisers: “financial crisis,” “scary,” “foreclosure,” “economic crisis,” “difficult times,” “the chaotic financial markets,” “devastating,” “under siege” and “unprecedented.”

Whether the members of the association — 400 companies that together spend an estimated $100 billion a year on advertising and other forms of marketing — are willing to stick to the spending plans they made “before the globe... continue reading

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.

Crisis Counseling for the Marketing Industry†

Brandweek, August 29, 2008 — With the average CMO lasting just 23 months and with three quarters of marketing departments in the throes of reorganization, the marketing industry is in a crisis state. It's universally acknowledged that the impact of cultural singularities like media fragmentation and the Internet have changed the marketing environment forever. But most companies, distracted by experiments with new marketing techniques and tactics, have failed to evolve their own internal structure, culture and capabilities.

CEOs' Heirs Apparent? Clearly, CMOs†

Handle the Brand, and You Can Handle the Top Post

Advertising Age, July 21, 2008 — In one of my earliest books, "Leveraging the Corporate Brand," I predicted the creation of "a new kind of senior officer, a CCO or chief communications officer," which inevitably gave way to the title chief marketing officer. I am now predicting a trend that will see the CMO inheriting the CEO post.

Stengel on Leadership, New Media and the Purpose Institute†

Q&A: P&G's Departing Global CMO Talks About His Legacy, His Future and What Changes, If Any, His Successor Has in Store

Advertising Age, July 21, 2008 — After seven years as perhaps the most visible, outspoken and successful Procter & Gamble Co. chief marketer in decades, Jim Stengel has announced he's leaving the post Aug. 1 and the company Oct. 31, after some special project work. In this interview with Advertising Age's Jack Neff, he discusses his legacy, what the transition to Marc Pritchard as global marketing officer means and whether he really does love the media as much as, say, Madonna does.

What's the CMO's Role in Innovation?†

The Marketing Chief Must Not Be Distracted From the Primary Tasks Related to Marketing Ongoing Businesses

Advertising Age, July 14, 2008 — It's well-accepted today that innovation is important throughout an entire enterprise. Even in the marketing arena, this has prompted an opening of floodgates to let in a slew of innovative ideas that go far beyond new products.

Spurred by everything from open innovation networks to cross-industry advisory boards to crowd sourcing, the deluge of ideas brings exciting potential for inspiring breakthrough concepts and for disruptive innovation. But with so many possibilities also comes the challenge of managing the exploding innovation process. Because of the critical role that marketing innovation plays in an organization's growth, the question that arises is: How involved should a CEO be and when should the responsibility lie mainly with the chief... continue reading

Cliche No More: CMO Club Gets Colorful New Member†

Unilever's Simon Clift on Stengel, Torture Tests and Marketing's Filet Mignon

Advertising Age, June 30, 2008 — Simon Clift has been Unilever's chief marketing officer for more than two years, but he freely admits he only really began doing the job a couple of months ago, thanks to a corporate restructuring that has had him drop his line-management duties as president of personal care.

As full-time CMO, Mr. Clift is getting in touch with his touch points, as some of his peers might say. But he just couldn't resist a mocking drift into CMO speak during an interview in the Carlton Hotel during the International Advertising Festival at Cannes last week as he bandied about terms like "challenges" and "new-media environment." He stopped, smirked and then added: "Oh my God! I've become a cliche."

CMOs, Stop Obsessing Over the Tenure Stat†

Instead, Here's What They Should Be Asking Themselves

Advertising Age, May 19, 2008 — Without question the marketing community has taken hold of the CMO-tenure statistic and run with it. Whether it's morbid fascination or the need to continually justify the role of the chief marketing officer, we simply need to move on.

Instead of framing their roles in terms of self-preservation, CMOs should be asking themselves: What is the proper role of marketing at my organization, and how can it be used to create as much value as possible?