Adcom A-Game Blog

Three Ways the CMO Role is Changing

Written by Justin Morcelle | Jan 13, 2025 3:15:05 PM

The expectations for the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) role are evolving at a rapid pace, and as a marketing leader, it’s crucial to stay ahead of the curve. I felt this during my 8 years as a CMO as the level of scrutiny around spend and performance grew at the same time the number of channels and providers was exploding. Not to mention, customers' expectations for brands are elevated, and the bar you were trying to jump over was likely not even coming from your category.  Here are three significant ways the CMO role is changing and what you need to know to keep up.

1. The CMO Role Has Expanded to Encompass Client Experience and Broader Strategic Thinking

Gone are the days when the CMO’s primary focus was solely on advertising and brand management. Whether intentionally or just a product of where CMOs sit in the organization, the role has grown to be an integrator and arbiter of organization priorities. Being successful in this space means building a deeper understanding of core functions like IT, Risk, and Distribution and being able to understand the organization’s value chain. For CMOs that do this well, it can cement their position within the executive team and help to justify continued investment in the marketing function. Further, engaging in this pivotal role allows the CMO to influence the end-to-end client experience, which allows them greater ability to align brand strategy with a client experience reality.

2. Increased Expectations for Articulating the Value of Marketing Investments

CEOs and CFOs are increasingly demanding that their marketing teams articulate the value of marketing investments in very tangible terms. This shift requires CMOs to develop a higher level of analytical prowess and make significant investments in data and technology. Shifting to an ROI marketing organization can be daunting, but starting with a simple maturity analysis across channels and products can identify areas of greater immediate opportunity. In my own experience, starting with establishing simple cost per acquisition and lifetime value metrics by channel can get this transformation moving and lead to deeper areas of opportunity like predictive modeling.

Further, to meet these expectations, CMOs need to change the culture of their marketing team to be data-driven decision-makers. Start by making marketing returns and analytics an evergreen topic in team meetings and steer recognition toward driving measurable returns. In addition, it is important to invest in training your current staff, strategically adding new talent, and providing the right technology to empower an analytically minded marketing team.

3. The Impact of AI and the Growing Desire for Human Connection

The rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming many aspects of marketing, from personalized content recommendations to automated customer service. However, this technological advancement also brings a paradoxical challenge: as AI becomes more prevalent, people are craving authentic human connection.

Marketers need to react to this shift by ensuring that their brands connect with people on a deeper level, beyond just product features and benefits. This means embracing the human side of marketing, such as storytelling, empathy, and authenticity. Brands that can create meaningful and emotional connections with their audience will stand out in an increasingly automated world. AI can be leveraged to automate redundant tasks so your marketing team can be focused on connecting more deeply with your brand’s audience.

Conclusion

The best CMOs will be those who can blend the art and science of marketing in a way that satisfies internal stakeholders, drives a vision for the organization’s client experience, and engages customers at a human level. Continued change to the CMO role and the marketing function is inevitable, but leaders who embrace that change and demonstrate their adaptability will be successful in any environment.