What should CMOs be doing? Transformation!

This is the first in a series of short posts related to The CMO Agenda research. Informed by recent CMO conversations and CMG Partners‘ collective experience helping top marketers develop marketing strategy, we have compiled a list of seven ideas or jump starters for further conversation. These are meant to spark discussion, ideas, and action as we all enter a difficult 2009.

As one CMO I recently spoke with said, “We should define marketing as a verb rather than a noun. We need to be more proactive.”

Marketing should be a transformational change agent
Companies looking to grow are often in need of a new way to look at their business and a new vision to work toward. If your title is CMO, the job of creating this vision and pushing the organization to achieve it falls on you. More than any other function, CEO’s should look to marketing to lead the charge for change.

Why is marketing “right” for this?
Marketing is the most cross functional part of  many organizations due to the customer orientation that puts them in contact with engineering to customer service. Would you really want IT to lead your customer centricity effort?

Marketers by definition should be driving better insight, understanding and motivating desired behaviors inside and outside the enterprise. Marketing should be driving the organization to capture value.

Now might be the perfect time to ask yourself whether you’re shaking things up enough.

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