The Economist Intelligence Unit has an released an interesting study on this topic. It provides some interesting and well known challenges facing marketing today and therefore how CMOs of the future will have to acquire new skills and competencies to take their organizations and brands forward. Take a look:
Only a decade ago, marketing was viewed mainly as a one-way push to get messages about products and services out to customers. At the start of the new millennium, marketers began to recognise the need to encourage two-way dialogue with customers, gaining important feedback about products and services and improving brand loyalty Successful CMOs are not only evolving the function into an integrated, strategic component of the business rather than simply a cost centre. They are also drawing on the long-practised but previously separate disciplines of PR and corporate communications to build integrated marketing and communications operations that encourage ongoing dialogue with customers and focus on long-term relationships. Mr Etherington of Tektronix says “In order for marketing to break free of that relevancy crisis, it has to absolutely track and be accountable for the one and only metric that counts to a business and that's growth. We started to change the marketing philosophy to what I call an outcome-based, aligned to the customer decision-making process, tied to our strategic objectives process."
Although brand building remains marketers' top priority, it is the least measurable aim compared with other marketing objectives such as sales lead generation, customer retention and cross-selling keeping CMOs perpetually in the hot seat.
The executives interviewed for this report recommend the following best practices:
Balance global brand awareness with local market relevance.
Centralising global marketing functions such as advertising development and production can create economies of scale and save money, but they must be guided by the needs of the local market and customer insights. At the same time, budgets must be freed up so that regional directors can make appropriate decisions based on market demands.
Adopt new media.
Both the interactive nature of Web 2.0 technologies and the transparency of corporate messages among different constituencies.such as customers, investors, media, regulatory bodies and employees (past, present and future).demand the integration of various forms of marketing and communications. Businesses can no longer segment audiences and messages as if audiences don't talk to each other.
Integrate marketing with other forms of corporate communications.
In particular, there should be a specific budget for experimentation with the newest Web 2.0 technologies. To remain competitive, companies must engage customers and exploit the interactive nature of digital media to create stronger affinity with their brands among consumers andother stakeholders. The CMO should have the foresight to anticipate how different constituencies will respond to different events, messages and channels, and should be able to deal with the proliferation of new-media tools and expanded audiences.
Develop new skills, capabilities and partnerships
CMOs must not only position their companies, but help define them. To do so, they need to understand the fundamental business model, brand, culture,policies and values of the organisation. Equally important in terms of adapting to the evolution of new media are partnerships with vendors whose expertise can be used to get new initiatives to market faster and more effectively than a company would on its own.
Champion innovation.
The need for greater accountability for marketing expenditure is pushing global companies towards digital marketing campaigns with higher returns than traditional media. The interactive nature of the latest digital media vehicles provides the opportunity to develop deeper insights into customer dynamics and allows the CMO to become the corporate champion of customer insight.