As a business leader, overcoming adversity and driving transformation can be challenging. Transformation and agility are essential for businesses to succeed and grow. And yet, these processes are complex, requiring careful planning, execution, and leadership.
During the latest GDS Group CMO North America Summit, we heard insights on this from various CMO leaders. In this article, GDS Group Presenter and Content Creator Sarah Tijou explores these insights into how we overcome adversity whilst continually driving transformation.
In brief:
- CMOs are changing their narrative, becoming more growth drivers than cost centers – highlighting their value to the organization.
- Being able to align marketing with business goals are finding opportunities in challenges are key for success.
Firstly, Rose Jia, Head of Growth Marketing for Amazon’s omni-channel grocery business shared three key insights. These can help leaders transform an organization and overcome adversity, particularly in recession-proof marketing and driving growth for business.
Change the narrative of the CMO
Jia believes that the narrative around the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) needs to change. According to her, the tenure of CMOs is indicative of their perceived leadership value to the organization. She says: “CMOs have an average tenure of 40 months, which is lower than it has been in the last decade.”
Jia also points out that the median salary of CMOs is almost two times less than the average of other C-suite executives. She says: “One of the reasons for this difference is the misalignment of goals between the CMO and the CEO. While the CEO’s top priority is driving top-line revenue growth, less than half of CMOs think the same way.”
To change this narrative, Jia believes that CMOs must be acknowledged as growth drivers, not cost centers. This becomes even more critical during a recession when the organization’s first instinct is to pull back on marketing support.
Find opportunities in challenges
She suggests that the best way for leaders to drive growth is to “find opportunities in challenges”. During a recession, many companies pull back on marketing support, which can create an opportunity for businesses that continue to invest strategically.
Jia believes that during a downturn, when marketing investment is scarce, a leader’s return on that investment is more closely scrutinized – but that the rewards are also greater. Therefore, businesses should focus on identifying opportunities that can help them stand out from their competitors.
Align marketing with business goals
Jia also believes that marketing should be aligned with business goals to drive growth. This means that marketing leaders should focus on driving top-line revenue growth and not just increasing brand awareness or customer engagement. Jia feels businesses need to “define their value proposition” and “focus on providing value to their customers”.
“Business turnaround [is] a full-contact sport”
The ability to achieve what Jia explored, is what sets successful individuals and businesses apart. Jill Rankin, the SVP and CMO of 24hour Fitness, understands this all too well.
“As a leadership team, figure out how to work together through what has been a very exciting and challenging business turnaround,” she said during the summit. “I heard someone describe a business turnaround as a full-contact sport every day. That feels accurate”.
Be humble, fast, and agile
The fitness industry has been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with many gyms forced to close their doors temporarily. However, Rankin says her leadership team saw this as an opportunity to transform their business. She says it is imperative to be “humble, fast, and agile” in order to drive innovation.
Be on a clock, not a calendar
Her team also embraced the mantra of “being on a clock, not a calendar”, meaning they needed to act quickly to make decisions that would benefit their business in the long run. She says being “curious, testing, and learning” was essential in navigating the challenging times and turning around their business.
As a leader, Rankin understood the value of aligning with her team and determining the key drivers of their long-term business health. “As marketers, it is our role to align with the leadership team and drive the business towards its long-term goals,” she said. By doing so, she believes this can help transform the business and achieve success in the face of adversity.
Stay positive, optimistic, and focused on the end goal
The GDS Group CMO North America Summit also heard insights from Julie Roehm, a seasoned executive who has navigated significant transformation in various industries. She shared her thoughts, focusing on her time as CMO at Party City.
The idea of keeping the party going is not just a fun tagline, it is a mindset. During her presentation, Roehm showed the importance of leaders staying positive, optimistic, and focused on the end goal.
As she says, the process of transformation can be daunting, and it is easy to become discouraged or overwhelmed. Still, with the right mindset, a leader can keep their team motivated and engaged throughout the journey.
A successful transformation requires a clear understanding of what needs fixing and this requires careful analysis, communication, and leadership. Leaders must identify the root causes of problems and create a clear roadmap to address them. It is also essential to have a team that is aligned with the transformation vision and capable of executing it.
The former CMO says: “You’ve got to start from the beginning, and from there, you can dovetail into your transformation strategy.”
Articulate your company’s vision, mission, and values clearly
One critical component of transformation is having a clear understanding of your brand and your goals. As a leader, you must articulate your company’s vision, mission, and values clearly. This is the foundation for all other transformation efforts. If your team does not understand your vision, they will not execute it correctly.
“As we began our journey on transformation, we asked ourselves how we can clearly articulate this and how we can build a roadmap?”
A successful transformation requires a clear roadmap with specific goals, timelines, and milestones. “As a leader, you must be able to communicate this roadmap to your team and stakeholders. This helps ensure everyone is on the same page and understands what is expected of them.”
Keep your team motivated and engaged
Roehm says transformation is not a one-time event; it is a journey. It requires consistent effort and commitment over an extended period. As a leader, you must be prepared to navigate the ups and downs of this journey and keep your team motivated and engaged throughout.
Transformation efforts are not the sole responsibility of one person or one team. It requires a collaborative effort, with different departments and teams working together to achieve the company’s goals. As a leader, you must be able to bring these teams together and ensure they are aligned with the transformation vision.
Throughout the summit, these executives all proved that by changing the narrative of the CMO, finding opportunities in challenges, and aligning marketing with business goals, businesses can recession-proof, post-pandemic-proof, and future-proof their marketing and drive growth even during challenging times.
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