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At more and more organizations, marketing has become firmly established as a C-suite function.
“Cladogenesis” is a term used by evolutionary scientists to describe the relatively sudden division of an existing species into two or more separate lines – thus creating new species – often in response to radical change in the environment.
The combination of overlapping social media networks with passionate and vigilant consumers means that chief marketing officers and chief communications officers are never more than one errant tweet or unflattering video away from a crisis. But while crises generate urgency and headlines, managing a brand today is a 24/7 operation of monitoring, messaging and refinement.
We recently held a private dinner for 20 CMOs from some of San Francisco’s most disruptive companies in the hospitality, food, insurance, financial services and media sectors.
Katherine Grainger, British Olympic gold medalist in rowing, and Ben Medlock, co-founder of SwiftKey, discuss what lies beyond brains and brawn.
C-Suite executives from five renowned companies – AutoNation, Bloomin’ Brands, Old Navy, Diageo, and BBDO – share their candid insights, key concerns, and best advice for CMOs.
More and more we are seeing major companies entrusting top marketing roles to leaders with diversified industry expertise– not necessarily in the corporation’s direct business proposition. The real expertise driving the talent selection is in finding deep experience in the primary brand or marketing problem to solve.
It should not be controversial to say that all organizations must be capable of some degree of innovation.
For some time now, leaders from across industries and geographies have been operating in an uncertain and volatile environment. And while we watch the entrepreneurial disruptors experiment their way to success, legacy organizations must also adopt this “try and fail” mindset and learn to take risks in order to survive.
For a generation, Procter & Gamble has been more than an icon of consumer packaged goods—it’s been the West Point of marketing, producing hundreds of CMOs across a range of industries.
