New Forrester and Heidrick and Struggles report into into the chief marketing officer's evolving role finds more CMOs value the relationship with CIOs, but less than half share a common vision
CMOs are increasingly recognising the value of a strategic partnership with the CIO yet less than half share a common vision of how marketing and IT should work together, a new report claims.
The Evolved CMO in 2014 report by Forrester and Heidrick and Struggles found 62 per cent of CMOs surveyed globally believe the CIO is a strategic partner in meeting corporate goals, yet only 29 per cent partner with their IT counterpart when procuring marketing technology. Forty-one per cent said they shared a common vision of how marketing and IT should partner.
In a further question relating to the CMO’s relationships with other c-level executives, the report found 51 per cent saw the CIO as a valued and important partnership, up from 30 per cent of respondents to a similar survey in 2011. Head of sales proved the most important relationship, particularly for B2B marketers, followed by head of product/R&D.
Across the board, 62 per cent of CMOs view relationships with peers on the senior executive team as vital to their success, while 96 per cent view vision and strategic thinking as a critical success factor. In a further sign that CMOs still have a long way to go to grasping the technology that supports customer management and competitive advantage, the report also found many still don’t have a single view of the customer view.
Related: CIOs, CMOs team up for customer engagement
CMOs, CIOs battle for mobile ownership
CMOs, CIOs still don't trust each other, finds Accenture report
CMOs and CIOs have more in common than you think
Almost three-quarters of CMOs surveyed realise competitive advantage comes from an integrated perspective on the customer, yet only 18 per cent claimed to have the entire organisation looking at a single view of the customer. Half of all respondents have access to some systems, but not all of them are synchronised.
In addition, 40 per cent of CMOs claim they are hindered by the quality of customer data in their organisation, and only 39 per cent optimise customer insights, digital media execution and measurement with cross-channel digital technologies. The report also found just 31 per cent use technologies and processes to gather, analyse and respondent to customer feedback.
Key challenges include siloed access to data and systems, insufficient data volumes, and data accuracy and quality.
Yet the marketing and technology union is progressing. Forty-five per cent of respondents viewed marketing technology as essential, and one-quarter are leading a cross-functional team from IT and marketing to identify key technology needs and develop a process for selecting vendors. More than half of CMOs also see technology awareness as a top competency to improve, the report authors stated.
The Forrester and Heidrick and Struggles report was based on a global survey of 212 CMOs in July 2013, split between B2B, B2C, and marketers serving both sectors.
Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO Australia conversation on LinkedIn: CMO Australia, or join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia
Big brands were once protected from small brands by high barriers to entry. Big brands had the resources to employ big agencies, to crack big ideas and to invest in big campaigns. They had the luxury of time to debate strategies and work on long-term innovation pipelines. Retailers used to partner with big brands.
According to the World Economic Forum in its most recent The Future of Jobs report, the most important skills for the future are not technical, task-oriented skills, but higher-order skills such as creativity, social influence, active learning, and analytical thinking.
Businesses continue to highly value the attention they buy through paid media, yet at the same time, many continue to disregard and under-value opportunities to connect with customers using their owned media.
In this bonus last episode of this new podcast series, BrandHook MD, Pip Stocks, talks with former ANZ group general manager of marketing, Louise Eyres, talks about the importance of thinking like a customer and using intuition to solve customer painpoints.
Well written Vanessa!! Agreed with your view that human experience is marketing's next frontier. Those businesses who are focused on the ...
Clyde Griffith
Forget customer experience, human experience is marketing's next frontier
Great tips for tops skills need to develop and stay competitive
Nick
The top skills needed to stay competitive in a rapidly changing workforce
The popularity of loyalty programs is diminishing, though I'd say it is because customers are savvy enough to recognise when a loyalty pr...
Heather
It’s time for marketers to rethink their approach to ‘loyalty’
Thanks Nadia for sharing this blog. It has really useful and amazing information about Salesforce Commerce Cloud and digital engagement w...
Holly Smith
Adidas taps data and technology smarts to build personalised digital engagement with consumers
clearly someone who's jealous and only comments from the safety of being behind their keyboard
Peter Sibson
The purpose of purpose - Brand science - CMO Australia