CMO role to become more data-focused and less creative
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The CMO role is to be more data-focused and less creative over the next five years because of the increased pressure to prove the ROI of campaigns, according to a report.
IBM’s 2011 global CMO study claims that the majority of CMOs across the world still feel underprepared to meet a forecasted “data explosion” that will allow them to better measure the ROI of campaigns.
The study found that 87% of CMOs in the UK and Ireland and 71% interviewed globally said they feel ill-equipped to deal with the increasing need for analysis and the overwhelming “volume, velocity and variety” of data.
More than two thirds believe they will need to invest more extensively in new tools and technologies to develop new strategies for analysing “big data” between now and 2016, such as customer analytics, CRM, social media and mobile applications.
Cost is currently the biggest barrier to using the new tools, with almost three quarters (72%) of CMOs worldwide saying budgets are a concern.
CMOs also feel they are under increasing pressure to prove the financial ROI of campaigns, with 61% globally saying the strains of being profitable has led to them being slow to adopting new technologies for campaigns and analytics.
An “airlines executive” who was interviewed for the study, says: “The success of my role is far more about analytics and technology than it is about hanging out with my ad agency, coming up with great creative campaigns. We must increase campaign ROI.”
Elaine Fletcher, partner at IBM Global Business Services, says marketing was viewed as more of a “cost centre” in the past, but to be competitive now, companies must become “customer centric” as opposed to “product centric and channel centric”, which is one reason why ROI has come back to the fore.
Social media is one of the other areas marketers see as a headache when it comes to preparation for change over the next three to five years. Almost three quarters (70%) of interviewees in the UK and Ireland and 68% of global CMOs said social media is a market factor that they feel least prepared for, despite 68% of respondents worldwide saying they plan to increase their use of social media.
Edmond Moutran, chief executive officer of Ogilvy & Mater in the Middle East and North Africa and respondent to the study says: “A year ago, one in ten clients asked us about social media. This year, it’s nine in ten. We’re in an environment where negative blogs can lead to an emergency board meeting. That is the power of social media.”
To personally become more successful over the next three to five years, the majority of CMOs (80% in the UK and 65% globally) say they will benefit the most from building out their leadership skills rather than developing their technology, media or finance expertise.
While CMOs see the importance of improving social media, financial and technology insights in their departments, they will look to bring others on board - either internally or through agencies - to build out the skills mix in the marketing division, rather than train in those areas themselves as they feel role would become too broad.
IBM claims its inaugural 2011 global CMO study, which compiled results from interviews with more than 1,700 CMOs globally, is the largest survey of its kind worldwide.
Readers' comments (5)
Philip Sheldrake | Tue, 11 Oct 2011 2:53 pm
This trend extends beyond Marketing. CMOs focus on the influence flowing between the organisation and customers, but the 'social enterprise' encompasses much wider influence flows.
This demands a role I refer to in The Business of Influence (Wiley 2011) as the Chief Influence Officer. Can the CMO morph into this role? Time will tell.
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Edmund Smiley-Jones | Tue, 11 Oct 2011 4:05 pm
As highlighted in this study, a major part of any campaign analysis to understand ROI is, and will increasingly be, online analytics, making the collation of data fundamental to measurement and evaluation – and essentially marketing strategies as a whole.
Fuel are finding marketing departments are being challenged to prove to the CFO and the board of directors that campaigns are working and the effect that marketing is having on the bottom line. If the evidence is not there then what is the commercial reason for a CFO and a board of directors to sign off more budget.
Where measurement and evaluation strategies, along with the mechanics of these, have not been put in place at the beginning of the campaign, the only way to analyse the full campaign effect is by doing a very detailed analysis diving deep into the business – something that is both time-consuming and costly.
To gain a true insight, web metrics need to be combined with business metrics such as revenue and lifetime value. There is currently no “off the shelf” solution for directly linking offline to online behaviour, although a lot of data can be gained through methods including QR codes, coupons and phone tracking. As we move away from “last click” towards “multi-touch”, so the need for expert analysis becomes even greater.
By addressing the measurement and evaluation strategy before the start of any campaign, along with agreeing with all parties on how they define success, all future budget sign-off and measurement of success will be better achievable.
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Keith Trivitt | Wed, 12 Oct 2011 4:41 pm
The increased focus placed by business leaders on CMOs to clearly demonstrate the ROI of their marketing and PR campaigns should come as little surprise. It is a trend we have been seeing for at least the last 3-5 years, as client budgets have been squeezed, while data is increasingly a hot commodity among any business. It is imperative, therefore, that CMOs, PR professionals and anyone else who impacts a brand’s value, reputation and affinity clearly understand and appreciate the role of data and analytics in their daily work. While we certainly do not want to lose sight of the value of creativity in our work, the days of “hanging out with my ad agency,” as one marketing executive put it in the IBM survey, are likely coming to an end. Modern business simply does not move at this idyllic speed anymore, whether that is a good thing or not.
It is for this reason that the Public Relations Society of America has been pushing the public relations industry toward developing more stringent global measurement standards. We simply cannot rely on outdated measurement practices (such as the use of Advertising Value Equivalents) or misguided pronouncements of PR’s value. Clients demand sophisticated measurement standards and a nuanced understanding of the ROI of marketing and PR campaigns, which this IBM survey clearly shows.
The imperative now seems to be how do we educate ourselves, our colleagues and future generations of marketing executives to properly balance the data-driven side with the creative needs of clients and employers. It is certainly not an easy balance to maintain, but one that should at least encompass some realistic expectation that a focus on data cannot allow us to become slaves to the numbers. Analytics are great, but you still need the creative aspect — the engagement, the communications, the visuals, etc. — that helps drive those analytics. Otherwise, what are you really measuring?
Keith Trivitt
Associate Director
Public Relations Society of America
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Kate Mayfield | Thu, 13 Oct 2011 1:21 pm
That's news?! It's not a trend. It's here, now, and it's been coming for several years.
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Jill Hilliard (Triniti Marketing) | Tue, 18 Oct 2011 6:35 pm
There's nothing new in the notion that competitive advantage comes from creatively exploiting superior understanding of what's happening in your customers' lives, how that impacts their attitudes and ultimately their behaviour. What is new is the overwhelming amount of data to generate that understanding that is now available to some companies.
The combination of left/right brain skill that a Marketer has of being able to work with numbers AND creative intuition is also not new.
Let’s not get waylaid too much by the pursuit of “perfect data” as the source of perfect understanding – never mind perfect exploitation.
Dare I suggest that we ought not to be surprised that IBM finds that Marketers might find themselves needing to turn to firms who can process overwhelming amounts of data? Even IBM has to admit (its CEO study as opposed to its CMO study!) that what will make the difference between standard and exceptional performers is [creative exploitation of] customer insight. This is right at the heart of the unique contribution that Marketers can make to a business.
Once everyone has bought the mainframe to determine that the number is not 42, but actually 41.999995, it’s a zero-sum game anyway. Those companies who will win are the ones who can take this piece of data, meld it with everything else that is known about their customer and their business, cut to the chase, derive insight and creatively convert that into marketing actions that surprise and delight the customer. There’s never been a more important time for businesses to embrace Marketers’ unique combination of skills. Vive le Marketing!
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