On average, CMOs are the shortest-tenured members of the C-suite. Their boards demand greatness from them expecting top marketers to be customer champions, frontline defenders of the brand, stewards of internal morale and culture, and drivers of company growth initiatives. 

Yet only 26% of CMOs are invited to attend board meetings regularly. 

Do you spend the bulk of your marketing budget on paid digital advertising?

If you do you'll have seen the cost of those ads going up, factor in circa 50-70% of that budget is probably going into the pockets of ad tech fraud then the cost of you trying to recover the upfront customer acquisition cost are getting to near unsustainable levels.

With the influx of D2C brands (and their inevitable competitors) playing fast and loose in the digital ad space, more dollars are needed to compete for the same impressions.

'Performance Marketing' is the buzzword when companies are looking to recruit marketing folk and it sits at the top of the skill criteria on virtually every job post and resume. 

For me this sums up the reality that today's CMO role has been diluted to that of the company bullhorn department rather than that of the team that should be driving growth innovation and disruption alongside their product/service peers.

The role of retail and consumer behaviour is forever in a state of flux, to adapt we must be open to the forces that are shaping both the physical and digital world we and our customers operate in today.

The changing metrics required to support omni-channel organisations has meant that the traditional Marketing Director or CMO role is now outdated, some might say redundant.

The need to become deeply embedded in the entire business enterprise operating more as a ‘Chief Change Maker’ has created the requirement for a number of unique skills to sit alongside all business touch-points.

Retail has always had to work hard at getting people through the doors, this is equally true for all online retailers. In particular with the rise of 'social commerce' which is diverting traffic that would at one time have gone to your website, or that 'marketplace' you chose to sell your good through.

Have you recently looked at the underlying reasons why your website traffic is in decline, and why it will further decline in the future?

There are a few key drivers for getting people to your eCommerce site, they tend to a combination of direct (they know the brand and are existing customers) or indirect, which pre-covid means that your paid media campaign assisted in getting them there.

So it's no wonder that with this kind of mindset we see retailers and brands thinking that posting pictures of this weeks 'special offer', or posting stuff that's all about the brand whilst completely ignoring the customer is turning people away from your brand - not towards it.

Is it any wonder they then scratch their head and ask why they don't get the same traction as these bright young millenials with thousands of followers who at one time were probably one of your customers.

Social Commerce without a shadow of a doubt is already disrupting your business, it will completely change what you assume eCommerce, retailing, and customer engagement is really all about. 

Today’s trends are made by neither brands nor media. Social commerce puts this democratisation of creating trends on steroids, as anything can be sold everywhere, by anyone and to anyone - even your customers and suppliers. 

"Retailers are getting killed by their own customers". 

People are increasingly more likely to build their own brand—and develop their own products, services and experiences—than to endorse or be sponsored by someone else’s.

Today the pressure on the traditional CMO is changing due to the rapid developments, and adoption by the consumer, not of devices or other forms of technology, but social interactions. 

For the many CMO laggards who continue to use social media as a place to continue with the 'intrusive advertise and promote' thinking that's served them in fraudulent ad tech land are rapidly finding themselves, and their organisations being turned off by the digitally savvy, socially connected consumer.

So, is your CMO doing more harm than good?