Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The Chief Marketing Officer - a flawed concept?

Chief Marketing Officers turn over with accelerating frequency. Spencer Stuart tells us that longevity is on average down to 22 months, and I have known many who lasted fewer than 3 months. It is rarely their fault. Is the CMO job an impossible job? Is it one with responsibility but no authority? All too often the CMO has little power other than charisma and force of personality, and is even set up as a target for the other C-level executives.

Is Marketing even a function on the same level as Finance or Operations? Is Marketing at Senior levels not really General Management? Is the CEO not really the CMO? In that case who takes care of the purely executional aspects of Marketing? Is it is C-level position? I suspect that Marketing cannot be completely separated from General Management without setting up the CMO for a big fall.

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