Do companies need a CMO?

Interestingly, only 70% of Fortune 500 companies have a CMO position, and the number has been falling slowly for some years.

Who doesn’t have a CMO? Uber, Lyft, Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Hyatt Hotels are a few examples. They all previously had CMO positions, but evolved the roles.

For some companies, particularly in consumer goods, they found that the CMO position lacked financial accountability. The CMO drove the marketing, but the head of each brand was finally accountable for the results. In these cases, the CMO role usually moved into a Chief Revenue, Commercial, or Growth Officer. This makes it clear that revenue is the key responsibility, with marketing one of many tools to achieve that objective.

Other companies have separated the role into two: someone to drive the brand and communications, and someone to drive marketing operations and sales. Sometimes brand building is important as a separate activity. If you want long-term perception change, you can benefit from decoupling the analysis from short-term sales.

We have also seen the rise of Chief Digital Officers and Chief Marketing Technology Officers.

As companies become more sharply divided into primarily online or offline in their business, the CMO role will probably evolve further.