February 19, 2014
The traditional chief marketing officer (CMO) role is dead. Businesses that relegate the marketing department to that of just brand and awareness are missing two pillars that are changing the role of marketing and its chief officer forever.
Instead, a new role is emerging that is organised around the customer. Whether this position wears the title of chief customer officer, chief client officer, or chief experience officer, it has one clear focus – customer engagement.
Forward thinking CMOs are evolving from simple data capture and batch-and-blast marketing tactics to develop customer intimacy, driving deeper and lasting consumer engagement. In our recent report, 84% of people believe customer engagement will overtake productivity as the primary driver of growth.
A company's digital marketing strategy must be aligned around optimising each unique 'customer moment'. But what can CMOs do to gain the competitive advantage and ride this new marketing innovation wave of customer engagement?
Embrace Digital Marketing; Embrace Technology
According to Gartner, by 2017 the CMO will spend more on IT than the CIO. Marketing departments are purchasing significant amounts of technology and services from their own capital and expense budgets. Why? Because social media and other digital channels mean customer demands are increasing.
