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The chief marketing officer‘s job description is ever expanding, and as we look ahead to 2024, CMOs will be expected to get even closer to product.
The next 12 months will see marketers rethink the traditional “4Ps” of the marketing mix—product, price, place and promotion—according to Lena Peterson, managing director and chief brand officer at MediaLink.
Discussing the advisory’s recent “Marketer’s Forecast 2024” research at Adweek’s Outlook 2024 event, Peterson revealed the increasing significance of marketers in driving a business’ bottom line, as well as unpacking the tactical ways marketers could unlock this growth.
The global study of 400+ marketing leaders in media and marketing found that most believed CMOs aren’t just a contributor to growth, but they are directly responsible for revenue contribution. Despite a slightly gloomy economic outlook, 91% of industry peers said they were “confident” in the ability of the CMO in their own organization to affect the financial fortunes of the business.
On the back of the results, Peterson predicted that the coming year would usher in a revived 4Ps, in order: product, people, platform and partners.
The proof is in the product
On how CMOs would get closer to product in 2024, she said: “It’s not necessarily something that we have associated with CMOs in the past—we’ve seen expansion to chief growth officers, chief experience officers, chief customer officers—but actually, 70% of marketing leaders are expecting to expand their brand beyond the sector of origin this year.”
This means more CMOs will be responsible for developing new product lines, in addition to turning existing products into services and existing services into products.
So what is the role of the CMO in this? Peterson explained: “Oftentimes, the marketing organization is the one closest to the customer. They’re the ones bringing insights in about how consumers are reacting and responding to current products, but they’re also aware of the whitespace opportunities and how consumers are underserved in their category. So that’s one key role.”
Peterson noted that MediaLink’s study showed that some CMOs were taking over responsibilities for product research and development, especially in the consumer packaged goods sector. She pointed to the 100-plus retail media networks that launched in the past 12 months, with big hitters like Walmart, Uber and Carrefour entering the space, and observed how “almost 100%” of these were the responsibility of the CMO.
