CMOs first in the firing line if business targets not met: Accenture Strategy

SINGAPORE - Chief marketing officers currently have the deck stacked against them, according to new research from Accenture Strategy.

CEOs say that although around five C-level executives are responsible for driving disruptive business growth, the majority (37 percent) hold CMOs first in the firing line if growth targets are not met.

Chief sales officers (34 percent) and chief strategy officers (29 percent) follow closely behind.

The report, ‘The C-level Disruptive Growth Opportunity’, is based on the company’s annual CMO Insights report, which gauges the attitudes of 535 CEOs and 847 CMOs from organisations around the world.

Accenture noted that CMOs can take control of their destiny by leading the disruptive growth agenda. If they don’t, others will.

Robert Wollan, senior managing director leading advanced customer strategy at Accenture Strategy, said organisations that rely on ‘growth by committee’ struggle to achieve their targets.

“It breeds a C-suite culture where everyone is responsible, yet no one is accountable—and onus unduly falls onto someone, usually the CMO,” he said.

Wollan said CMOs can take a greater role by actively driving the disruptive growth agenda and generating new value for the business. Such initiatives include developing ecosystems with non-traditional players, launching platforms that elevate current products into expanded service models for customers, and increasing revenue through next generation connected data monetisation.

“All of which CMOs are well positioned to do,” he added.

Alison Kennedy, MD of Accenture Strategy Asean, said there has never been a better time for CMOs to reposition themselves by taking control of the disruptive growth agenda.

“Such initiatives are often the most creative, have the biggest revenue potential and command strong leadership,” she added. “CMOs are well positioned to do so due to their experience of being brand guardians, which will help enable them to intuitively navigate new opportunities internally and externally, and identify new areas of growth.”

Other takeaways from the report include:

CMOs best placed to lead the disruptive growth agenda

CMOs are seen as one of the likely leaders to take control of the disruptive growth agenda due to their unique position of being in direct line of customers, prospects and the wider market, their access to digital levers and their focus on innovation.

CEOs see CMOs as the primary driver of disruptive growth (50 percent), closely followed by chief strategy officers (49 percent), and chief sales officers (38 percent).

The majority of CMOs (96 percent) also recognise the importance of disruptive growth to revenue potential, and another 75 percent believe they have a great deal of control over the disruptive growth levers in their company.

Barriers to adopting a disruptive growth position

However, many CMOs are not currently in a position to drive disruptive growth due to mindset and time. Only 30 percent of CMOs believe they are cutting-edge marketing innovators, and a little over a third (37 percent) of their time is currently spent on innovation.

About 60 percent spend the majority of their time on traditional marketing initiatives, such as maintaining brand image, improving customer experience and loyalty.

While evidently important, over half (54 percent) feel that a large portion of their marketing budget is being wasted and not delivering the results the business expects.