Podcast Summary
Marketing Career Advancement: Understanding company culture, speaking board language, focusing on outcomes, and demonstrating sustainable pricing power are essential skills for marketing leaders aiming to advance to the boardroom.
Becoming a CMO is just the first step in a marketing career, and for those aiming to advance to a boardroom seat, it's essential to understand the unique skills and mindset required. Chris Bergerave, a former global CMO of AB Inbev and current investor, advisor, and board member, shared his insights on the topic. He emphasized the importance of understanding the company's culture, speaking the language of the board, and focusing on outcomes rather than just efficiency metrics. Additionally, he suggested that CMOs should focus on demonstrating the sustainable pricing power of their brands as a way to sell the impact of their marketing efforts in the boardroom. Overall, the conversation underscored the importance of evolving as a marketing leader and adapting to the unique demands of the boardroom.
Marketing's role in pricing power: Warren Buffett highlights the importance of a brand's pricing power, yet few CMOs have a seat at the board table. To change this perception, advocate for cognitive diversity on boards by including marketers, as research shows financially successful boards.
Pricing power is a crucial factor for businesses, yet it's often overlooked by marketers. Warren Buffett, a renowned investor, emphasizes that a brand's ability to maintain pricing power above inflation is a defining characteristic. However, only a small percentage of CMOs have a seat at the board table, where financial literacy is highly valued over marketing understanding. To change this perception, it's essential to advocate for increasing cognitive diversity on boards by including marketers, as research shows that such boards perform better financially. While it may not happen overnight, this is a step towards recognizing the value marketing brings to the financial success of a company.
Marketer on Board: Having a marketer on the board can offer unique perspectives, help elevate customer-centric mindset, bring functional expertise in digital transformation, innovation, and pricing power, and provide a competitive advantage in today's business environment.
Having a marketer on a board can bring significant value beyond their gender, race, or functional expertise. Marketers offer unique perspectives, such as a deep focus on consumers and an ability to understand intangible assets like brand and relationship capital. They can help boards elevate the customer-centric mindset and bring functional expertise in areas like digital transformation and innovation. Marketers' natural inquisitiveness and outward thinking can also help boards navigate the dynamic stakeholder landscape. Furthermore, marketers understand the importance of pricing power and can help boards make informed decisions in this area. In today's business environment, where intangible assets drive a significant portion of value creation, having a marketer on the board can provide a competitive advantage.
Marketing and Finance: Marketers need to understand finance language and long-term goals to secure budgets and position marketing as an investment in future earnings.
Marketers need to understand the language of finance and the long-term goals of their organization to effectively fight for budgets and preserve marketing initiatives. Marketing myopia, or short-term thinking, can lead to budget cuts and missed opportunities for future earnings. By positioning marketing as an investment in the future and focusing on pricing power, marketers can make a compelling case for their budgets to C-suites and boards. It's essential for marketers to align their goals with the horizon of their ownership and communicate effectively in the language of finance to be taken seriously in the C-suite. Finance may seem cold and analytical, but it's just as emotional as marketing, and understanding its language is crucial for marketers seeking to influence business strategy.
Marketing-Finance communication: Effective communication between marketing and finance teams is crucial for success at the C-suite and board levels. Marketers should understand finance language, prioritize consumer insights, and make an effort to learn financial concepts to bridge the gap.
Effective communication between marketing and finance teams is crucial for success at the C-suite and board levels. The language used in marketing and finance can differ significantly, and it's essential for marketers to understand the finance team's perspective and use their language. The fusion of marketing and finance language, such as cost of acquisition and lifetime value, can be beneficial for marketing strategies. Marketers should also prioritize consumer insights and apply them internally to better understand the finance team's concerns and needs. To bridge the gap, marketers must make an effort to understand financial concepts such as P&L, cash flow, and balance sheets. Only a subset of CMOs demonstrate the willingness and ability to close this gap, and those who do are more likely to succeed at the highest levels of the organization. Additionally, regular communication and stakeholder outreach are essential for marketers to understand the language and priorities of the board and other senior stakeholders.
Board expectations for CMOs: Securing a board seat requires persistence, preparation, wisdom, wealth, and work. CMOs should demonstrate expertise, financial investment, industry connections, and valuable insights to earn the opportunity.
For CMOs aiming to take a seat at the top table and become effective board members, it's crucial to understand the unique demands and expectations of the role. First, securing a board seat is a competitive process, requiring persistence and preparation. Second, boards value wisdom, wealth, and work from their members. Wisdom refers to functional and general expertise, while wealth can mean both financial investment and the ability to bring in valuable industry connections. CMOs should also be prepared to put in the necessary work, contributing to strategic discussions and providing valuable insights from their marketing perspective. Remember, it's not about getting "a few boards" but rather earning the opportunity through dedication and demonstrating the value you can bring to the organization.
Board responsibilities for marketers: Marketers seeking board seats need financial literacy, strategic thinking, servant leadership, listening skills, and role modeling board culture. Preparation and dedication are essential for a long-term commitment with serious responsibilities. Consider personal brand and reputation, and work collaboratively to future-proof the company.
Serving on a board of directors requires more than just financial literacy and strategic thinking, which are often associated with marketing roles. Serving on a board involves financial responsibilities, strategic thinking, servant leadership, listening skills, and role modeling board culture. While marketing roles may naturally develop some of these skills, financial literacy may be less familiar territory for marketers. Preparation and dedication are essential for those seeking board seats, as it is a long-term commitment with serious responsibilities. Candidates should consider their personal brand and reputation, as these factors can influence their selection. Boards have a duty of care and loyalty, and members must work collaboratively to future-proof the company. Board culture is also important, and members must role model appropriate behavior to set the tone for the entire organization. Marketers can develop these skills and begin role modeling them before seeking a board seat. The road to a board seat is a long and challenging one, but with dedication and preparation, marketing professionals can make valuable contributions.
Board selection process: Build relationships and gain experience in board roles, industry associations, education systems, and nonprofits to increase chances of being considered for a board seat.
Getting selected for a board seat is a high-touch process that involves personal networking and building relationships. Unlike lower-level roles, which are often advertised, most board seats are filled through networks and personal recommendations. To increase your chances of being considered for a board seat, it's essential to gain experience in board roles, industry associations, education systems, and nonprofits. These experiences demonstrate your achievements, abilities, and ambition to prospective chairmen or CEOs. The skill set of marketing and finance is valuable in startups, scale-ups, private equity, and SPACs, where the speaker has chosen to focus. Being a board member comes with successes and failures, and it's essential to be prepared for high-risk environments. The speaker has found fulfillment in pushing herself out of her comfort zone and learning new skills to adapt to these environments.
High-risk environments: Innovation and growth can arise from high-risk environments. Companies that stay resilient and adaptable can discover new opportunities and create value in unexpected ways.
High-risk, high-rewards environments offer opportunities for innovation and growth. Chris's experience with Seters.ai, a company that optimizes ticket management for event organizers, demonstrates this. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when the company's market disappeared, they pivoted and created a healthcare application to help manage vaccinations. This innovation not only saved the company but also helped vaccinate the entire population of Belgium more efficiently than traditional methods. The lesson here is that by staying resilient and adaptable in the face of adversity, companies can discover new opportunities and create value in unexpected ways. Additionally, being a board member in a high-risk industry provides valuable learning experiences and the opportunity to cross-fertilize knowledge between different industries and sectors. This not only benefits the board member's own company but also contributes to economic growth. Overall, embracing risk and staying agile is essential for innovation and success.
Engagement and connection in marketing: Build authentic relationships with customers and audiences through various channels, engage with content, and foster a community to drive growth for businesses.
Key takeaway from this episode of Uncensored CMO is the importance of engagement and connection in marketing. John Evans emphasized the need to build authentic relationships with customers and audiences, whether through social media, podcasts, or other channels. He encouraged listeners to engage with the content and share their thoughts, as reviews and subscriptions help spread the word and reach more people. By fostering a community and creating valuable, meaningful interactions, marketers can build lasting connections and drive growth for their businesses. So, whether you're a marketer, business owner, or just someone interested in the industry, remember that engagement and connection are key to successful marketing in today's digital world. Don't hesitate to reach out to John Evans on LinkedIn or Uncensored CMO for more insights and discussions. And, if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your network to help spread the word.
