CMOs are a mix of CFOs and CEOs?

Businesses must initiate a culture change to succeed in doing more with less and break down internal silos when it comes to creative campaign management and delivery. This is according to the latest Global Benchmarking study ‘Unlock the value of creative’ from The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), in partnership with Canon Europe.

In the first stage of qualitative research, carried out earlier this year, CIM and Canon undertook more than 35 in-depth interviews with senior marketers from global organisations across a variety of sectors in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Norway. The whitepaper of interim findings identifies seven clear trends in an industry where marketers are being forced to use more channels and undertake more activity with less:

• Cost control as a way of life
• The disruptions and opportunities from a changing digital landscape
• The increasingly central role of technology within business
• The need for collaboration and breaking down of silos
• The need to share best practice across an organisation
• Unlocking value through an holistic approach to creative assets and processes
• The consistent use of measurement

These trends have one unifying factor: the importance of the roles of the CEO and CFO in marketing. Senior marketers attending the launch of the whitepaper asserted that a marketing role in business is improved if the CEO has the marketing gene and marketers can speak the CFO’s language.

Overwhelmingly, marketers agree that businesses need to go further than just relying on cost saving mechanisms, which are in most cases already completely integrated into processes. The whitepaper stresses to marketers that innovation, and ‘thinking beyond’ using digital technology and systems, is the key to ensure that they have the full support of the board in order for deliver successful campaigns.

Thomas Brown, head of insights at CIM said: “Businesses are no longer preoccupied with cost: it is value that creates business return. Cost control being a process norm, businesses must adapt to survive in the technological revolution. This should be a collaborative approach from across the organisation, not executed in silos, and marketers should be at the head of this.”

Gary Horsfall, Head of Consultancy Services, Canon Europe said: “Today’s marketers are faced with unprecedented challenges from the economy, the industry, their competitors, the multitude of technologies at their disposal and also from internal stakeholder demands. However, with these challenges comes opportunity and smart marketers have a clear chance to lead a cultural change within their organisation and put marketing at the top of the boardroom agenda. Our work with CIM is aimed at showing how businesses can unlock the value of their creative assets and harness the power of people, content and technology in new and dynamic ways.”

CIM is calling for senior marketing, brand and communications practitioners to participate in the second phase of this ground breaking project, which will focus on addressing some of the challenges faced by the industry. To complete the second stage online survey, which takes just 12-15 minutes and is 100% confidential, visit www.global-benchmark.com/creative. The findings will be launched exclusively for research participants in October 2011 at a London venue.

Supporting this initiative, CIM has also launched a dedicated platform where marketers can watch interviews with leaders and contribute to a blog from senior marketing figures at organisations including Barclays, Coca-Cola, RSA Group and 3M. Visit www.unlockthevalueofcreative.com to find out more.