The Modern CMO

Why Global Marketing Must Lead the Conversation at the Top

I. The Most Misunderstood Role in the C-Suite

Marketing is arguably the most misunderstood function in the modern C-suite. Too often, it is reduced to tactical activities, campaign execution, and content calendars. Rarely is it treated as what it truly is: the architect of relevance, demand, and long-term brand value.

As markets become more fragmented, consumer expectations more nuanced, and competition more fluid, the need for executive marketing leadership becomes existential. Yet, in many boardrooms, marketing still plays second fiddle to finance, operations, or technology. That imbalance needs to be corrected, not only for the sake of CMOs but for the future health of any brand competing at scale.

II. A CEO’s Perspective on Marketing’s Power

From my years as a CEO, it became evident that marketing is not simply an enabler, it is a multiplier. Marketing, when given strategic footing, is what makes innovation visible, culture relatable, and growth sustainable.

I have seen firsthand how businesses grow exponentially when the CMO is treated not as a cost center, but as a strategic core of the company. It’s not about campaigns, it’s about creating meaning. It’s about shaping perception, building aspiration, and driving behavior through trust and storytelling.

III. Marketing as Culture-Shaping Infrastructure

Brands are more than logos. They are cultural infrastructures that help people navigate identity, trust, and lifestyle. A great brand speaks to the soul while delivering functional value. It becomes a proxy for belief.

Modern marketing must build this infrastructure. This means understanding not just what consumers buy, but why they care. It means curating every touchpoint, packaging, experience, service, content, into a coherent emotional system.

IV. The Ideal Role of the CMO: Architect, Integrator, Catalyst

The modern CMO is no longer just the head of advertising. They are:

• The Architect, designing brand systems that scale across regions and channels.

• The Integrator, uniting product, sales, and operations around a shared consumer narrative.

• The Catalyst, driving organizational change through the lens of customer empathy and innovation.

Great CMOs embed brand into the company’s DNA. They are present in R&D meetings, they challenge the CFO’s allocations, and they shape the onboarding of every new hire with cultural clarity.

V. Structuring Global Marketing for Strategic Impact

In multinational companies, marketing cannot be siloed by geography alone. Global consistency in brand purpose, identity, and expression must be balanced with local relevance and cultural fluency.

This calls for a federated model:

• A global marketing hub sets vision, values, identity, and long-term strategy.

• Regional teams localize activations, build market intelligence, and serve as culture interpreters.

The glue between them? A shared operating system of tools, metrics, training, and creative assets that empower alignment without stifling creativity.

Example: Unilever’s “Brand Key” framework allows marketers in India and Italy to operate from a shared blueprint while tailoring execution.

VI. The CMO as Educator: Building Marketing Fluency Across the Business

A common failure point in global organizations is the knowledge gap between marketing and other business functions. Finance, R&D, and operations often misunderstand marketing’s true potential, reducing it to tactical execution.

A modern CMO must actively educate:

• The Board, on consumer psychology, brand equity, and cultural relevance.

• The Sales Team, on brand storytelling, value propositions, and pricing strategies.

• Product and R&D, on market signals and unmet consumer needs.

This requires internal storytelling, cross-functional workshops, and codified brand frameworks accessible to non-marketers.

Example: Nike’s internal brand training programs ensure that even its supply chain teams understand the emotional core of the brand. That alignment empowers better decisions, from product briefs to logistics.

VII. Brand-Building vs. Performance Marketing: A False Dichotomy

In today’s data-driven world, it’s tempting to reduce marketing to performance metrics: CAC, ROAS, click-through rates. But modern marketing is both art and science. Brand-building, the long-term creation of equity, memory structures, and emotional connection, must sit side by side with performance marketing.

Short-term conversion without brand building leads to churn. Long-term brand without conversion is vanity.

Example: Airbnb’s shift from heavy performance marketing to brand storytelling in 2021 led to a stronger brand moat and improved booking retention, proving the value of emotional resonance alongside tactical ROI.

VIII. Board-Level Advocacy: Why Marketing Must Sit at the Table

Despite being responsible for demand generation, market growth, and brand equity, CMOs are underrepresented on boards. This must change.

Marketing brings:

• The voice of the customer,

• The pulse of cultural change,

• The insights that shape innovation.

Without marketing at the table, organizations lose visibility into their most important stakeholder: the consumer.

Example: At LVMH, marketing is embedded into executive decision-making, ensuring every brand remains culturally relevant and commercially elite.

IX. Collaboration with the CFO, COO, and CTO

Marketing’s effectiveness is amplified through strategic collaboration.

With the CFO

• Aligning budgets with brand-building imperatives.

• Establishing new metrics for intangible asset value.

With the COO

• Ensuring product quality and delivery match brand promises.

• Streamlining innovation pipelines based on market data.

With the CTO

• Enabling martech ecosystems.

• Leveraging AI and personalization without losing human storytelling.

Example: PepsiCo’s CMO and CIO jointly built a real-time marketing engine for snack innovation, blending data and creativity at speed.

X. New KPIs for a New Era

Legacy marketing metrics are insufficient. Today’s CMOs must measure:

• Brand salience and consideration,

• Share of voice vs. share of search,

• Customer lifetime value (CLV),

• Net Promoter Score (NPS),

• Organic reach and earned media value,

• Internal brand engagement (employee alignment).

Balanced scorecards that combine brand health and performance efficiency provide a truer picture of marketing ROI.

XI. Case Studies of Marketing-Led Transformation

1. Procter & Gamble
P&G’s brand management system institutionalized marketing-led decision-making. Every brand has a GM, but marketing drives positioning, strategy, and innovation.

2. Patagonia
With a CMO who is also a climate activist, Patagonia’s marketing function defines its business model: purpose over profit, resulting in hyper-loyal customers and top-tier brand equity.

3. LVMH
From Louis Vuitton to Dior, LVMH operates with marketing at the core. CMOs in the group are cultural tastemakers as much as commercial leaders.

4. Airbnb
By investing in cinematic brand content, Airbnb strengthened direct bookings and brand affinity, reducing dependency on paid search.

5. Nike
Nike’s storytelling, from "Just Do It" to the Colin Kaepernick campaign, drives both social impact and product sales. Marketing is the brand’s soul.

XII. The CMO Manifesto: A Call to Modernize Marketing Leadership

The companies that will win tomorrow are those who treat marketing not as a function, but as a leadership discipline.

We need CMOs who:

• Are fluent in numbers and nuance,

• Can coach a CEO and pitch a founder,

• Understand culture and operations,

• Lead growth and inspire change.

And we need boards who see marketing as core to their mandate, not just an output, but a driver of enterprise value.

It’s time to stop asking marketing to justify its seat. It’s time to build the table around it.

References

Keller, K.L. (2012), Strategic Brand Management, Pearson.
Edelman, D.C. (2010), Branding in the Digital Age, Harvard Business Review.
Byron Sharp (2010), How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know, Oxford University Press.
Harvard Business Review, The New Rules of Branding, The CMO Today.
McKinsey & Company, The Role of the Modern CMO.
Binet & Field (2013), The Long and the Short of It: Balancing Long and Short-Term Marketing Strategies, IPA.
Airbnb Press Room, 2022 Brand Strategy Update.
Nike Annual Reports, 2018–2022.
LVMH Investor Relations, 2021 Brand Strategy Brief.
Patagonia Company Profile and Environmental Statements.