CMOS OF THE FUTURE

REGAN SAVAGE, Head of Marketing and Engagement at Southern Cross takes a peek into the looking glass to see what the future holds for senior marketers across New Zealand.

IF YESTERDAY’S CMO WAS ABOUT COMMUNICATIONS, BRANDING, AND ADVERTISING, TODAY’S CMO IS A STRATEGIC PARTNER TO THE CEO. WHAT WILL THE CMO OF THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE?

I think all executive leaders should be strategic partners to the CEO – hard for them to be there if they’re not. But the ways in which organisations can derive strategic advantage have evolved. The scope of marketing has expanded, and while some marketing teams have taken a while to match the pace of change, others have seen the future and broadened their thinking. The future of marketing will see a combination of the classic disciplines of the past, but will seek to borrow and build competencies from colleagues in design, development, and data.

AS A CMO, HOW DO YOU GET ALL STAKEHOLDERS ONBOARD WITH YOUR VISION?

Marketers are uniquely positioned to champion customers. That means working hard across the business to get the bestinformed view of your customers, how they create value for your organisation, what value they need in return, and how to keep them loyal.

When you apply the right level of rigour to understanding your customers, your customers get to do the talking. So, if your vision isn’t rooted in addressing something customers need or that your business needs customers to believe, then your customers will rat you out.

HAVING TO BE ACROSS IT ALL, FROM STRATEGY TO DATA AND MANAGEMENT, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES OR SHORTCOMINGS YOU THINK WILL FACE THE CMO OF THE FUTURE? AND HOW ARE THESE OVERCOME?

Every organisation cuts their cake a bit differently, so one challenge with increasingly blurred boundaries is influencing well enough across the business to drive customer-led outcomes that grow a business in the desired way.

I think one of the key challenges is keeping an eye on the constants in a sea of change. I’m reminded of a Bezos quote: “I very frequently get the question: ‘What’s going to change in the next 10 years?’ ... I almost never get the question: ‘What’s not going to change in the next 10 years?’” Like any enterprise leader, CMOS need to remember that modern customers are still people, with simple underlying needs like being valued and respected, and to allow the disambiguating power of tech to colour – but not cloud – the picture.

DO YOU FEEL THAT TOO MUCH PRESSURE IS BEING PUT ON CMOS AS THEIR ROLES GROW TO ENCOMPASS MULTIPLE SPECIALITIES?

Is this a trick question? I can’t think of any area of our business that’s not grappling with the challenges of digitisation, changing customer demands, evolving competitor contexts, technology trade-offs etc. That said, the boundaries between product, technology and marketing are very blurry. But the good news is that there are expert practitioners who understand their specialist areas – a CMO needs to be curious, respect their expertise, learn from them and their processes, and govern in the interests of the customer and the business.

IS THERE ENOUGH TALENT, SKILLS IN THE CURRENT NEW ZEALAND MARKET TO SUPPORT FUTURE-FOCUSED CMOS?

I would hope that as the borders (safely) re-open, we get the benefit of returning New Zealanders and overseas citizens alike who bring their experience and skills to the New Zealand market. Data and marketing technology specialists are definitely thin on the ground and in demand at the moment. But, you can always find expertise if you go looking, and of course it’s a given that you support growth in the skills and expertise of the people you already have.

‘CMOS need to remember that modern customers are still people, with simple underlying needs.’