Imperative 2: The CMO Must Be the Change Agent

The Chief Marketing Officer’s role in the revolution must be one of innovation and thought leadership.

This leadership must stretch from the boardroom to the back office of marketing operations and across the public sphere of the external marketplace.

To successfully achieve the potential of this revolution, the CMO must be a powerful change agent both internally and externally, who can:

• chart a course for where marketing needs to go
• help her department navigate the waters of change
• compellingly storyboard from vision through to the results for both the board and the street.

CMOs – acting as change agents for their organizations – are redefining and restoring the function of marketing to drive true business results and measurable ROI. “The CMO Must Be the Change Agent” discusses:

• The CMO’s pulse. Find out what they say is most broken today.
• The CMO’s biggest challenge.
• The revolving door of the CMO. Why is the CMO’s tenure shorter than the CEO’s?
• Shifts that will drive change and real world success stories

To learn more and hear stories from other marketers, download the Imperative 2 thought paper here.

We’d also love to hear your stories below:

This is a fantastic framework for marketers to give feedback and stories. Our CMO has been a change agent, and I agree that this is needed in many marketing orgs!

Posted by: Jane Samson (Visit ) on 09/29/2010

i'm ready for the revolution! ;)

Posted by: Emma on 07/28/2010

Anxious to exchange wisdom with like-minded B2B marketeers.

Posted by: Jill Rasco (Visit ) on 07/27/2010

I think Social Media is just the beginning. We've seen it help countries free themselves and I'm excited to see where it goes from here.

Posted by: Joel Casarez (Visit ) on 03/19/2012

Change agent doesn't say enough. CMOs need to be disruptive. They need to create an environment where their team is constantly trying out new ideas and testing new strategies. The standard Marketing 101 doesn't work anymore. One of the best CMOs I know finds his team candidates from other parts of his business -- hard working, smart individuals. He then gives them a marketing role and let's them make mistakes along the way. He's disruptive, and he's a success. Mike Damphousse Green Leads http://www.green-leads.com/b2b-blog/

Posted by: Mike Damphousse (Visit ) on 10/29/2010

I agree - CMOs have been given a gift and its called Social Media - they have the opportunity to be the change agent that uses Social Media to center the organization around the customer. Tools like Aprimo will also allow them to "keep the conversation going" once they become aware and are hooked on the ideas you are sharing via social media

Posted by: Paul Dunay (Visit ) on 10/27/2010