What Headhunters Are Seeking In CMO Candidates

It’s apparent what companies are expecting from their marketing efforts when you look at the attributes/experience top headhunters are seeking to fill Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) positions.

I saw this article in Marketing Sherpa recently and it quickly made its way into many other marketing blogs and relevant Web sites (118 links at the last check). A quick diffusion rate like this usually indicates a great deal of interest in the content. To summarize the article, here’s what CMO headhunters want in a candidate:

Hard analytical skills. Top management and boards of directors are asking tough questions from their marketing decision makers. Marketing’s credibility will be determined by how much is brought to the bottom line. Vague measures of success are out and direct accountability are in. Companies are no longer willing to expend thousands or millions of marketing dollars, based on opinions or soft evaluation methods. According to the article “the ability to accurately analyze campaigns can make or break a marketer.” However, it isn’t just about having analytical skills. As always, the important thing is to show results, and “how” and “why” the results were achieved.

Customer insight. This is the ability to understand niche markets, segments and sub-sugments and to assimilate the information and data coming from these markets into relevant strategy and provable results. It appears that CRM and marketing systems management experience would be valuable to have on the resume.

Direct Marketing Skills. This doesn’t mean companies are necessarily focusing more on direct marketing, but it does mean they value somebody who has been involved in marketing efforts where accountability is part of the fabric of doing business.

An Understanding of Search Marketing. CMOs with experience developing search engine optimization and pay-per-click programs are in short supply and high demand. The rapid advancement of new media from being “out of the picture” to a “major part of the picture” has made it difficult to find people who understand the paradigm changing nature of these new tools. That leads to the next attribute…

Humility. As I read this, it basically means the ability to open the door to new channels and new ways of doing things without bias toward previous marketing models.

There is a great deal more content in the article that you may find useful, but the implications seem clear. If top management and boards of directors have their way, we have entered a new era of accountable marketing. I think this is great because too often marketing can remain hidden behind a veil of uncertainty when it comes to measuring its responsibility to the bottom line. Marketing is a powerful force that contributes to overall company success, and it’s time to clearly demonstrate this fact for key company decision makers.

However, it is also vitally important to remember that building a strong brand is as crucial as ever and accountability in marketing has to be synonymous with the job of protecting and building brand equity. A classic example, would be what Johnson & Johnson did to protect their Tylenol brand equity in the wake of the cyanide-laced capsules in the fall of 1982. From a purely short-term marketing accountability analysis, this would seem a poor return on investment. In hindsight, we all know the intense advertising, PR and product recall Johnson and Johnson did at the time was enormously expensive, but it turned out to be a phenomenal long-term investment for the company and the brand. Incidently, if that same scenario happened today, the ability of Johnson and Johnson to deliver its same message to the public would have been minutes and hours rather than days thanks to the ubiquity and almost instant nature of the Web.

So while I think it is great that companies and headhunters are searching for the bolded attributes above, I would also hope they add brand foresight to the list. That implies the ability to harness accountable marketing efforts into short- and long-term results that represent the best interests of the customer, the brand and their company.