Does the rest of the C-suite have confidence in marketing?
Marketers may have one view of their contribution to the business, but do analysts, CFOs and CEOs share the same opinion?
A Deloitte report last year found a distinct lack of communication, collaboration, ownership and trust between CMOs and the C-suite.
The research shows, for example, that 48% of the C-suite think customer experience is owned by the chief sales officer, compared to just 11% that credit the CMO. Furthermore, when it comes to who owns the digital transformation conversation, 71% of the C-suite say the chief information officer, compared to just 1% who say the CMO.
Overall, there is an impression that marketers can be a little protective, reluctant to properly take on any input from across the boardroom table, but that they will always present their findings with the greatest fanfare.
Royal Bank of Scotland CMO, David Wheldon, does not see much in the report that tallies with his own experiences.
“Marketing is a serious profession which is taken very seriously, as long as people do it seriously,” he says. “It’s a worry that seems very particular to marketing. You don’t get a CFO worrying that no one takes finance seriously. And if they do, they keep it to themselves.”
