Last weekend I was bobbing up and down in reasonably rough surf at the South Beach Triathlon in Miami Beach. Don’t ask me how I did (or didn’t) do in that race, but in the days after it a few things struck me as educational in ways that my middle-aged body and psyche hadn’t anticipated. For anyone that has done a marathon, a gran fondo, a triathlon or some other individual long distance sport, there is a fundamental truth that you live with during the event: its all up to you. People will parade you to the event, friends will train with you, and praise you when you are done. But when you are bobbing in the surf, your quads are burning, or you are barely able to take the next step, no one is there but you, your body and your head.
The race to become modern marketers is not that different. What we and others have found about the CMO as leader of the digital race is that:
- CMOs are focused more on their next move than moving the needle. Our study "The Evolved CMO In 2014" conducted with Heidrick & Struggles (blog post here; for Forrester clients, report is here) shows that CMOs view the CEO spot as the brass ring. They are busy amassing the business skills and successes to get to that top spot. But the disconnect from what they say they need, such as technology, to actually delivering on new routes to market, remains wide. Global CMOs share a similar perspective when talking to IBM. They found as we did that CMOs are angling for the CEO seat, but haven’t really developed the digital acumen – for themselves or their team –required to meet customers in the venues they now favor.
- Digital marketers are worried about the expectations set for them. Adobe’s query of 1,000 digital marketers (PDF of study here) shows that more than half of them know they need to change the way they do their job everyday. But despite that honest assessment, they also found that few know where to turn to get the next round of skills they need. Friends, peers and advice givers are training them haphazardly. Only 14% said they were confident they could get where they need to be.
- Despite digital spend, progress remains slow. Despite the range from inattention to nervous laughter about the transition to digital marketing, clearly some progress is being made. The IAB proclaimed a new milestone – more money was spent across online media in the U. S. in 2013 than was spent on broadcast television. This is telling in terms of direction, but is still dominated by the major digital media – search and display – that are the domain of direct marketers. This transition primarily reflects the declining broadcast audiences.
It seems the finish line for many of these marketers is merely a transition point to the next thing on the road to CEO stardom. And while digital is important to their consumers, it is still considered something other people know more about, or is not a priority at the C-level. But I disagree. I think CMOs have got the digital bug, both in terms of how they market and how they think about the business over the long term. I think the answers in these studies speak more to how many marketers lose perspective. It is very easy to lose all perspective on how far you’ve come, and fail in the recognition of the progress you have made. Email and search are highly productive digital business drivers that have been proven for retail, travel and financial services. Can you think of a company that does not have a search strategy? How successful are those that don’t?
Unlike sales or operations, where quotas or workflow dictate the goal line, how can marketers know they have done what was expected? I don’t think marketers really have that luxury.
As a coach once told me, always put the finish line 100 feet ahead in your mind. That way you keep the pace strong as you cross. Marketers are uncomfortable because they can’t see the finish line, which motivates some and scares most. But they all realize that the finish line is conceptual these days, and winning means crossing into the next tier of leadership, whether that means leading marketing into its next era, or leading the company to new success.
