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Is The Top Marketing Job “The Most Dangerous Job In Business”?
If you have the title of Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), or the org chart equivalent, you may have the most dangerous job in business!
According to the June 2007 issue of Fast Company, it may be the riskiest job in the American C-Suite.
The article, The Most Dangerous Job in Business, by Ellen McGirt, quotes research by executive-search firm, SpencerStuart that shows that over the past three years the tenure for CMOs has averaged to only 23 months. (As a point of comparison, SpencerStuart says the average tenure of a CEO is 54 months.)
While analyzing why CMO tenures are so short, the article goes on to say “Maybe the CMO post should be acknowledged simply as the ‘fall guy’ job in the C-suite. If the numbers turn down and CEOs need to make changes, the first instinct certainly won’t be to step aside themselves. Getting rid of the CFO might spook Wall Street, while changing a COO or CIO could disrupt operations. Dumping the CMO seems easy in comparison.”
The article also quotes Forrester Research as saying that over the past two years, three quarters of marketing departments have been reorganized.
There is more to the ‘Dangerous Job’ article, including analysis of why this is happening and what can be done about it. It is worth reading if you are your company’s top marketer, or if your company’s top marketer is your boss.
I personally think that the short average tenure of top B2B marketers is at least partially because they are now being held accountable for the results of their marketing. Senior executives in all other departments have had to show the direct impact of their efforts on costs, revenue and profits. Why should marketers be exempt?
Do you think marketing is as dangerous as they say? How at-risk do you feel in today’s marketplace?
Hi, Mac. Great post.
Should CMO’s be measured objectively? Yes, they should. They should be measured by the same empirical data that we direct response copywriters are measured by. That’s the only way to know for sure if they “got it right” or not.
Should they immediately lose their jobs if the numbers aren’t there? Possibly. But we all have to remember, in the B2B world, there are a lot of reasons a company doesn’t make its numbers.
One of my customers is about to have another dismal quarter. Their marketing message is absolutely right for the product space and the prospects they’re sending it to. However, the products just don’t implement the message their campaign broadcasts. Not sure who’s fault that is, but it’s not the CMO’s.
But I agree with you – he’s an easy target. Too easy. And therein lies the problem.
Eric Lynch
Posted by: Eric Lynch | Jun 26, 2007 at 5:12 pm