NEXT

VOL 4 2022

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

 AN EVOLVING
PROFILE OF THE Insights from executive
search consultants at ON

NEXT CHIEF Partners

MARKETING OFFICER

Examining the rising demand and

attributes needed for marketing
leadership roles in an evolving
market landscape.

No role that exists functionally across an

organization is required to continuously
evolve more than the chief marketing role.
The CMO must evolve based not only on
macroeconomic shifts but progressive
marketing and technology trends. The
lead marketer has to understand how to
best reach & communicate to key target
audiences – and that is changing day by
day.

According to Kantar’s recent 2023 Media

Trends & Predictions report, “With the
cost-of-living crisis showing no signs of
abating, geopolitical conflict within Europe
and a climate crisis whose shrill call to
urgent action is growing by the day,
consumers everywhere are rapidly
changing their behaviors.”
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CHIEF MARKETING
OFFICER
So, who are the leaders shaping
marketing and its future? For
volume 4 of our NEXT Series, ON
Partners leaders examine the rising
demand for marketing leadership
across industries and functions to
identify the evolving profile of future
CMOs.
The pressure on the CMO to drive
growth, help lead business
transformation, understand its
audience, and keep pace with an
increasingly complex marketing
landscape and customer behavior has
never been higher.
ON PARTNERS 2022
The skillset of today’s successful CMO
reflects the channel expansion that has
been drastically altering the way
organizations sell to and interact with
their customers.
According to ON partner Lynda Robey,
“In demand are data-oriented marketers
who understand how to determine
market segmentation and
personalization in order to spend
marketing dollars efficiently. They need
to understand how to acquire
customers through both the upper
channel as well as social channels, and
they must possess a depth of focus
around CRM and loyalty to drive
relationships and customer retention.”
 AN EVOLVING
PROFILE OF THE
NEXT CHIEF
MARKETING OFFICER

“Lead marketers today are not longer

just responsible for building brand
awareness, creative development,
advertising, demand generation or
customer acquisition. They are experts
in the full cycle of the experience and
all the touchpoints that come with it for
a customer,” states Vicky Wilkens,
Chief Marketing Officer at ON Partners.

“We’ve seen the CMO move from a

functional leader to a business critical
leader. This can include now overseeing
the customer experience, innovation,
product, data & insights, strategy and
sales.”
 AN EVOLVING
PROFILE OF THE
NEXT CHIEF
MARKETING OFFICER

The Impact of More Virtual Spaces on CMOs

One relatively new touchpoint and brand

opportunity that continues to gain customer
interest and interaction is the metaverse, and this
new frontier is adding an additional level of
complexity to the CMO role. Organizations are
seeking smart marketers who can test and lean
into these virtual spaces that have the potential
to serve the brand well.

With social & digital media, in particular, it

continues to be the responsibility of the CMO to
find the balance between a spend in activities
that build the brand with those that can be
directly measured around customer acquisition
and conversion.

An increasing number of companies are looking

for ways to express their mission and vision in all
the ways they interact with their customers, and
CMOs are central to that responsibility.
 AN EVOLVING
PROFILE OF THE
NEXT CHIEF
MARKETING
OFFICER
The Impact of More Virtual
Spaces on CMOs

“There is an elevated place for

strong and strategic brand
marketers who have the ability to
harness a company’s reason for
being, its north star, to really break
through,” adds Robey.

“Those who are looking to broaden

their skills to include product and
ecommerce in addition to
traditional responsibilities will have
a superpower in today’s market.”
AN EVOLVING
PROFILE OF THE
NEXT CHIEF
MARKETING OFFICER

Who Owns the Customer Journey?

Virtually every organization struggles with who

genuinely owns the customer relationship.
While marketers used to be closest to the
customer because they were conducting market
research and adhering to the historical CPG
method of the “4 Ps of product, price, place and
promotion", that ideology living in marketing
alone no longer holds true.

Customer data is much more accessible across

the organization and most product, sales,
strategy, data and people divisions of an
organization have to understand the customer
base.
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CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
Who Owns the Customer Journey?
Marketers are increasingly
interested in positions in which they
have responsibility for the product
itself, specifically martech products
and technology – areas that impact
the ability to measure the efficacy of
marketing activity and/or ensure the
customer has the best journey
possible and optimize that journey.
Companies are seeking marketers
with a breadth of capabilities who
can do it all from end to end.
ON PARTNERS 2022
The reality is that if they haven’t
served as acting CMO, senior
marketers who are ready for the
CMO role have likely only owned two
or three of the key areas of
responsibility they'll be asked to hold
in the CMO seat.
Clients need to be smart about
exactly what they want and what
their ideal CMO candidate needs to
bring to the table.
For a CMO search, this means a shift
in strategy.
 AN EVOLVING
PROFILE OF THE
NEXT CHIEF
MARKETING OFFICER

Who Owns the Customer Journey?

In many cases, hiring organizations don’t even know

what attributes they need from their chief marketer
because the requirements are evolving so quickly.
Compared to several years ago, telling a brand’s story
today requires someone who is able to keep up with
the likes of TikTok, online influencers, the
metaverse…the list goes on.

From an executive search perspective, there are

many ways into the CMO role. For example, a recent
client of ON focused in the QSR space, needed a
leader who comes from an agency background and
understands how to advertise to a target audience
and manage agency relationships.

By contrast, another partnering organization of ON in

the healthcare space, wanted first and foremost a
focus on ESG, and the leaders' direct impact on the
community and social causes.
 AN EVOLVING
PROFILE OF THE
NEXT CHIEF
MARKETING OFFICER

Who Owns the Customer Journey?

A CMO can come from a sales, research, data, or

customer experience background since all of these
roles incorporate marketing now. It’s an interesting
time in terms of what CMOs own and what is not
under their realm – and it differs greatly across
companies.

“The type of candidate a client thought they wanted,

someone with corporate marketing experience in
retail and QSR, for example, could change to focus
more on agency experience,” noted partner Josh
Nathanson.

“With one client, we ended up placing a senior

marketer who had experience in both areas and
who understood how to drive consumers to the
client’s app with an experience that would keep
them coming back. Ecommerce in this particular
need was key."
 AN EVOLVING
PROFILE OF THE
NEXT CHIEF
MARKETING OFFICER

How Have Compensation & Location Changed for

CMOs

Hiring top marketers has become significantly more

expensive as demand for highly experienced CMOs has
taken off. Clients are having to choose to either pay what
the market demands or hire less experienced executives.

“The cost of doing business is much higher than two years

ago and this comes as a surprise to many clients,” adds
Nathanson. “Way more importance is being placed on
understanding the customer journey, and the value of the
best candidates has gone up exponentially – and a lot of
that is COVID-related.”

As a result of the pandemic workplace shift, top marketers

often prefer not to relocate or go into an office
environment at all, and this new work model remains a
priority for many candidates. As they opt for a work from
home or hybrid model, positions in what is considered
less desirable locations remain harder to place.
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CHIEF MARKETING
OFFICER
Is Automation Replacing Marketers?
The pandemic has also brought a shift
toward automated marketing tools that
in many cases have replaced marketers
and designers who previously drove
marketing outreach. Largely a result of
headcount reductions due to COVID,
automation has become a valuable tool
for marketers who need to be well
versed in bringing messages to market
quickly and cost-effectively.
Those who understand how to get the
most out of the software and tools
available to them are at a competitive
advantage.
ON PARTNERS 2022
“Hiring companies shouldn’t
underestimate the value of the
operational side of marketing,” noted
Wilkens. “It may not be as sexy as the
creative part of the job, but the best
marketers know how to use these tools
to their advantage."
"Many times, executive leadership
teams hiring a new CMO are not even
sure how to prioritize automation and
martech into their list of priorities for
their next CMO - but the understanding
of how to utilize automation and
streamline it quickly within the
marketing organization is paramount
for an incoming CMO.”
AN EVOLVING
PROFILE OF THE
NEXT CHIEF
MARKETING OFFICER
CMOs Willingness to Learn and Grow is Key

“Particularly in situations where a client has a long roster of

skills they need from a CMO, we often seek out candidates
who are collaborative, inquisitive, and who demonstrate a
willingness to learn, grow and develop, notes Robey. “I love
seeing marketers who raise their hands for special projects
if they’re not able to take on more functional
responsibilities in their current organization.”

“Helping with international expansion, picking up a small

product line for an ecommerce business that’s been
underserved, getting involved in a culture initiative like DEI…
there are tremendous opportunities for marketers to
venture outside their comfort zone and gain broader access
to functions – and it’s a great way to demonstrate to a
potential employer that they can accomplish new goals."

"When I speak with young marketers about their career

path, I encourage them to be thoughtful and strategic about
how they learn and to raise their hands and volunteer to
broaden their exposure and responsibility.”
 NEXT
VOL 4 2022

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER