When she first saw the email, she thought she was about to be fired. About 30 minutes prior to her weekly one-on-one with the CEO, the chief marketing officer at a multibillion global financial services firm received a cryptic email from him with the subject line “The Trouble with CMOs.” The email contained a link to a 2017 article one of us wrote for HBR, and suggested the CMO read it before their meeting. Uh-oh. She went into the meeting prepared for the worst. As she sat across from the CEO, he asked her whether she thought she had the right role to maximize marketing’s impact. With trepidation, she answered honestly and indicated that she didn’t.
How One CMO Revamped Her Role
She worked with the CEO to set specific metrics for success.
October 03, 2018
Summary.
After a conversation with her firm’s CEO sparked by a 2017 HBR article, the chief marketing officer of a global financial services firm dramatically expanded her role and that of her marketing team. This firm traditionally had its CMO focus on downstream functions — advertising and promotion, and other marketing communication. At the CEO’s urging, marketing became much more involved in upstream decisions about strategy, and began collaborating much more closely with other C-suite functions.
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New!
HBR Learning
Marketing Essentials Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Marketing Essentials. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Learn how to communicate with your customers—strategically.