“The Role of the CMO Being Obsolete” To Be or Not to Be…

In today’s marketing sphere, controlling big brand strategies is no longer enough. The consumers want direct, customized interaction[s]. It seems quite hard to believe that the relevance of this role is in question and might just disappear completely. This prediction seems quite unnerving; it is unlikely that the CMOs will lose their jobs completely rather, the CMO role would be transformed into a more relevant position.

British Airways traditionally a pioneer in big brand marketing, which has recently phased out its CMO position for director of customer experience.

“EXPERIENCE MARKETING“ trumps brand marketing in reaching the most valuable customers”

The 3 main factors in this transition away from CMO:

• The end of single channel marketing: The death of single channel marketing disciplines and decline in the relevance of those who are responsible for them. The poster child for this trend is the now-antiquated idea of “Mobile Marketing”. Like mobile, social is a dynamic & multi purpose tool with consumers turning to it for everything from search to customer service.

• The rise of the personal narrative: Before experience itself is the need for this generation to align with brands that fuel their own narrative. Brands that help facilitate this “me-styling” can win engagement and loyalty. E.g: Nike’s ubiquitous FuelBand This offers the user participative benefits, rather than just flat content that can be shared and ignored.

• The ascent of advocacy: Any brand that can offer these benefits in experience and personal narrative can ride a rising tide of consumer advocacy. While direct channels such as search and email should not be neglected for direct conversion, 40% of younger shoppers find out about new brands from their social networks, and 59% rely mostly on their friends family to make decisions.

Image courtesy: www.stateofdigital.com