The Marketing Seven

Ten years ago, you wouldn't find a CMO in most companies.

That individual has only recently escaped orbit around the COO.

As "the new kid on the block," the CMO often finds it hard to fit in and measure up to the C-suite's old-timers.

According to venture capitalist Tim Kopp, while CMOs are true mavericks, they all boil down to seven types—and no one type has all the skills needed to lead most brands today.

The seven types are:

The Thought Leader. This CMO can create a product category and evangelize for it. They're storytellers, speakers, and visionaries.

The Growth Hacker. This CMO "goes deep into Excel spreadsheets to drive bottom-up demand-gen programs," Kopp says. They often come from marketing ops or finance.

The Product Marketer. This CMO is fluent in tech-speak and adroit in pricing, packaging, messaging, and analyst relations.

The Brand Marketer. This CMO understands how to develop a brand's look and feel. They often come from B2C companies.

The Strategist. This CMO is "great at understanding where the company’s solution fits in the market, what key strategic moves to make, and how to approach important decisions." They're especially good at driving strategic partnerships.

The Culture Builder. This CMO knows how to engage employees in the mission of the business and rally teams to achieve departmental goals.

The All-Around Athlete. This CMO is the ideal type, "but good luck finding one," Kopp warns. They know enough to be dangerous in every area of marketing, but can only make things happen when they hire people who compensate for their weaknesses.

CEOs who want results from their CMOs must be careful to match company needs to the candidates' skills, and be willing to sacrifice some imperatives, Kopp says.

Both Sides Now

CMOs who hope to keep their jobs must use both the left and right sides of their brains, according to Forrester's 2017 Predictions.

Those who can't—the "analytics-only" and the "brand-only" CMOs—will be pink-slipped.

A CMO's right hemisphere "designs experiences to engage customers." Her left "masters technology and analytics to deliver personalized, contextually rich experiences."

“'Whole-brained' CMOs are in the minority—but they will soon be the competency standard for both B2C and B2B companies," the report says.

Art & Science

Art is I; science is we.

                       — Claude Bernard

At INBOUND last week, Gary Vaynerchuck told 20,000 B2B marketers to respect art and science equally, if they hope to succeed in the next 10 years.

Most are good at only one.

The problem persists, Vaynerchuck says, because, "We have people who lack self-awareness to know what they're good at and what they're not good at."

Focus on that at which you suck, he insists.

I agree.

I've encountered few marketing leaders who are dexterous at both art and science.

Many master and respect only one (they're true specialists); and many others, neither (they're simply shrewd self-promoters).

Marketing leaders should be Renaissance (Wo)men.

It's no surprise 1 in 3 will be fired next year.

Digital and Events: They're Cousins

Yes, we get it: digital's hip and events are square.

But they're cousins, identical cousins all the way. One pair of matching bookends, different as night and day.

B2B CMOs know they spend 50 cents of every marketing dollar on events.

But they don't recognize, in reality, they spend even more.

John Hall, CEO of Influence & Company, recently told me an ever-growing portion his clients' digital spend directly supports customer engagement through events (before, during and after).

B2B CMOs are using online channels to drive face-to-face results; they simply don't assign that spend to the events.

That means CMOs are oblivious to the true picture. Spending surveys don't capture it either.

In this family, the brash, hip child is gets all the parents' attention, while the shy and dutiful one goes quietly about her business. What a wild duet!