CMOs: Innovators and Adopters
As a precursor to the IBM Global Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Study to be published later in 2011, the Economist Intelligence Unit, in cooperation with the IBM Institute for Business Value, conducted an online survey of nearly 300 executives to assess which trends are impacting CMOs and how CMOs are responding to today's complex business environment.
CMOs are facing shifting marketplace conditions as well as a customer base that increasingly relies upon digital communications tools and has heightened expectations for quality, service and corporate transparency. The question is whether CMOs are proactively responding to the challenges and changes before them.
The initial results of this survey suggest CMOs are following two distinct paths:
- Innovators: These CMOs are in the minority. They champion a fully integrated approach to marketing that leverages cross-functional relationships and insights to engage customers, create perceived value, and generate a positive response to the brand and its proposition.
- Adopters: These CMOs, seemingly the majority, are not yet on the leading edge in accommodating or leveraging new dynamics in marketing strategy. While well aware of these dynamics, such as the increasingly common use of collaborative communications, they are struggling somewhat with a clear plan of execution that will deliver optimal benefits to their organization and customers
Are CMOs, besieged by the speed of change, retreating to what they know best, or reinventing themselves? And how are they positioning themselves to execute value-creating marketing strategies that pull all the levers to be effective? To find out, download the complete executive report.
Download the complete IBM Institute for Business Value study (1.2MB)
