CMOs’ New Agenda: Red Herring CMO 2007 Conference Highlights

February 9th, 2007 Lois Kelly Posted in Leadership, Marketing trends, Research |

At this week’s Red Herring CMO 2007 Conference in Carlsbad, California, chief marketing officers agreed that their role has substantially changed — as has what CMOs are being held accountable for.

All the CMOs who spoke — from companies including GE, Nortel and Google — said that their number one priority is increasing revenue, and that every marketing activity today must be measurable in a way that aligns with business goals, particularly revenue, growth and improving the customer experience. Dashboards tracking marketing’s impact on key business goals is a fundamental, said the CMOs.

They also concurred that the role of CMOs today is more of a strategic partner to the CEO on how to move the business ahead. More of a chief architect, less of a programs manager.

Other highlights:

Kathryn Hanson, CMO of Red Herring, presented a the results of a survey, “What Keeps CMOs Up at Night.” Top strategic priorities: driving revenue, changing brand perception, custom acquisition, aligning sales and marketing, and aligning marketing across geographies.

CMOs Lauren Flaherty of Nortel and Dan Henson of GE stressed the need for more predictive insights and analytics. “It’s about the headlights not the taillights,” said Flaherty. “You’ve got to measure real time, looking at the future not historical data. That’s why Tracking studies don’t provide value.”

Why CEOs replace their CMOs: According to Tom Seclow of search firm SpencerStuart, CEOs almost always say, “The CMO didn’t get anything done. And they didn’t get buy in in the organization.”

Red Herring CMO Conference