CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER IN FRONT OF THE CURTAIN

Even "in the past" it was not easy to do the job of Chief Marketing Officer to everyone's satisfaction. This is due to the sheer volume of tasks and responsibilities that have long been underestimated in this job description. In order to strategically plan and develop marketing measures and ensure their implementation, CMOs must combine a number of competencies. Not only do they have to constantly put their own products and brands to the test, but they also have to have a profound view of customers, competitors and the dynamics of the market structure. A comprehensive, in-depth understanding of markets from micro and macro perspectives is just as indispensable as communicative and entrepreneurial talent. This applies to staff management on the one hand and dealing with external partners and service providers on the other

Digital challenge
It is obvious that the digital revolution has significantly increased the complexity of tasks in recent years. Dealing with digital marketing tools and understanding new technologies and marketing channels have become even more of a challenge because the pace of change has also increased dramatically with digitalisation. This applies to the markets as well as to the tools with which they are "processed". 

"The latter are developing so rapidly and have such short half-lives that it is becoming increasingly difficult to remain state-of-the-art and provide the perfect marketing automation ecosystem," explains Jan-Hendrik Völker-Albert, Head of Marketing & Communications at PwC Switzerland, one of the problems. 

The modern CMO is required to have a high affinity for automation tools and data analytics in order to design innovative services, measure campaigns and evaluate the performance of all activities. In addition, there is the challenge of internal transformation, as Völker-Albert emphasises: "Marketing is an important pioneer for the digital transformation within the company, so the marketing function must change faster than other areas. This requires simultaneously empowering marketers with the appropriate skills and technologies and fostering a digital mindset. Only then can CMOs and their teams respond to the new demands and dynamics in the market.

Data-driven CMO
So innovative CMOs understand the benefits and opportunities that the right technology can bring. After all, it's about success across the entire marketing ecosystem - and data is the lifeblood of that system. How regularly data is already being used to make informed decisions is evident, for example, from the Adobe study "Tomorrow's CMO". According to the study, almost 75 per cent of the 1,100 marketing professionals surveyed from five countries rely on the latest digital technologies for data analysis to streamline marketing workflows and resources, manage multi-faceted campaigns, programmes and creative resources, customise the customer journey and/or demonstrate the value of marketing to the rest of the organisation. 

"The science behind marketing - that is, the data-driven, logical approach - will be fundamental to tomorrow's CMO," says Jada Balster, Head of International Marketing at Adobe Workfront. The CMOs of the future will also understand the work itself differently: "They'll understand that marketing needs to be managed strategically, with the same level of process and technological sophistication as any other business-critical function, such as finance, sales, HR and IT." 

From the advertising department to the brand competence centre
CMOs are thus mutating into multi-taskers who have to bring along a qualification for transformation topics and organisational development - and who are moving away from selling products and towards building thematic leadership in addressing customers. This is particularly important in those sectors that are facing the challenge of fundamental change - the real estate industry being a case in point. Topics such as ESG, skills shortages and digitalisation are just three exemplary areas for current disruptive processes. Real estate companies are transforming from "administrators" to brand- and customer-oriented companies, ideally developing a high level of resilience and agility. This transformation is also leading to dramatic changes in the relevance and remit of brand management and marketing.

"The challenges of the transformation of marketing departments urgently require the development and transformation of advertising departments into real brand competence centres that work in all directions of the entire company," Harald Steiner, founder and CEO of the REB Institute, puts it in a nutshell - and adds: "Chief marketing officers are responsible persons and liaisons in dealing with the ever-growing complexity and fragmentation of the markets. Their task is to coordinate the countless communication and marketing disciplines precisely, with simultaneous alignment to the company's goals."