The average tenure of a CMO is less than 24 months; bartenders keep their jobs longer.
It’s scary being a marketer. CEOs want more revenue. CFOs want less marketing spend. Product guys want to write copy. Art directors want smaller logos. The bank wants its mortgage payment.
And if that’s not enough to make the average CMO go off and sling appletinis for a living, the marketing industry itself turns on them, asking the inevitable, perennial question during awards season: “Why is the bold, brave work so scarce?”
And all those agency types who don’t bring home the bling turn the stink eye to their cowardly clients. Terrible.
Truth is, while marketers carry the burden of weighty expectations from so many people, we’d better be sure we don’t deserve that stink eye before we whine about it.
With some notable exceptions, there is a dearth of consistently bold, brilliant marketing worthy of awards and it’s a problem. When year after year one print ad repurposed for five channels sweeps all the categories in all the shows, you know something’s wrong.
This is a business problem because awards are a proxy for excellence in marketing management. And I know this concept has its detractors.
Not long ago, I spoke at an industry event, along with a fellow marketer, at which I extolled the importance of award-winning creative. My colleague was fairly dismissive of my position. She said she’s too busy selling stuff to be concerned with awards. Okay, fair enough.
But what sells stuff? Great creative sells stuff. Not exclusively, but in large part.
Awards are the echoes of the courage, brains, relationship building and personal credibility of the CMO.
There is a special mojo possessed by this kind of CMO. It quiets the barking of the CEOs, the CFOs, the product guys, the art directors. That mojo is trust.
A CMO who is trustworthy, trusts herself and trusts others.
If it is true that what we need is bold, award-worthy creative because it is a proxy for marketing excellence, then all we need is trust.
Diabolically simple. Equally difficult to achieve. But possible.
Trust is built on promises kept through living clear and consistent values. It’s using a fair, open and balanced approach to exploring ideas.
This kind of leader must have proven expertise to deliver the goods. She must be omniscient. If she doesn’t know all there is to know about the product, the business, the consumer, she knows exactly where to find it. She knows how to sort through data to find the nuggets of gold—the insights from which great creative is conceived.
The trusted CMO is politically savvy. She knows who holds what power and where and when it is appropriate to engage it. She knows what the expectations are, and the process for delivering on them.
This leader recognizes the multitudes of organizational and personal decision-making styles that must be navigated. She leverages this knowledge to effectively sell. She uses the process itself to advantage, not naively relying on the idea that great creative sells itself.
The authentic CMO knows how to build and present a solid case. It is logical, based in fact and consistent with historical experiences. It’s aligned with the organization’s strategy and the brand. She explores all alternatives before knocking out those that don’t cut it. Her case is brave but eliminates unnecessary risk.
Above all, she is a stellar communicator. Clear, concise and timely, tailoring the message to the person on the receiving end.
The über CMO knows how to bring a team together and point them in the same direction. She keeps on her team only those she trusts. She communicates expectations clearly and provides all the necessary tools. She leaves her team alone to get the job done.
She second-guesses only when it’s her own gut that’s twitching because she knows to trust herself.
The marketer who trusts herself, knows herself and that knowledge humbles her. She knows she’s not a copywriter. She doesn’t know how to put words and images on a page. She revels in facilitating the creative process, not in being the process herself. She creates an environment in which it is safe for her agency to explore, to make mistakes.
This formidable phenom rewards the heart behind the work so that the agency strives for brilliance out of inspiration, not fear. Agency staff clamour to work on her account.
These things, and no doubt I’m missing a few, are the stuff of trust.
Marketers who have it, know it. It makes them brave in the face of mighty expectations. We need more of these marketers. Then we will have our bold, brilliant creative.
PAMELA DAVIS-ROSS is vice-president communications & CMO of Sunnybrook Foundation
