The way business gets done is changing rapidly, and nowhere is this more evident than in the marketing department. The Internet has enabled the customer to interact with brands more directly and faster, and competition makes it more important than ever to build a brand that customers can identify with.
Executive Summary
"Understand your audience and develop a plan before you start brand building," advises Hiscox USA's Russell Findlay, providing insights into brand building. He also describes the increasing demands on chief marketing officers as customers interact more directly—and more quickly—with brands and as the tools and technologies for brand interaction evolve.Keeping Up With Change
As a CMO, you must constantly keep your skills sharp, and you’re always changing and evolving. Compare the role of CMO to other C-suite executives—the traditional CFO, for example. Accounting principles and practices don’t change much from year to year. Certainly, CFOs need to stay up to date on changes in the law and the tax code, but the position doesn’t require a lot of creativity. (In fact, creativity may be a trait you specifically do not want in a CFO.) The CFO can assume that a disruptive regulation, technology or methodology is not likely to creep up on them overnight. A CMO, on the other hand, must be aware of and master an ever-changing landscape of new strategies, techniques and tools as soon as they become available.
