CMOs Weigh In: Where is Marketing Increasing its Value?

At Marketing Vision 2021, Dave Munn, President of ITSMA, facilitated a CMO panel with Carol Carpenter, CMO at VMware, Sarah Kennedy, VP of Global Growth & Demand at Google Cloud, and Antonia Wade, Global CMO, PwC. You can hear an excerpt on the C-Suite Marketing podcast.

All three marketing superstars shared their insights on how they are continually adapting in an unpredictable marketplace as well as how they’re planning for future growth. Their conversation ranged from what they’re focusing on today, how they’re keeping their seat at the table alongside other C-level executives, and what they’re doing to make sure their organizations and the business is positioned for future success.

A key question Dave asked is, “Where do you think marketing is increasing its value to the business?”

Here are their answers:

Carol Carpenter: The main value marketing brings is in knowing how to get products closer to our customers. We do this by understanding and being part of the customer journey – we need to touch customers all the way along that journey and really understand the customer lifecycle. When we do, we have the power to drive that lifecycle and deliver value on a consistent basis. It is my view that marketing should lead business strategy, that’s where marketing’s real opportunity is. After all, the marketing magic is having both the data and the context together. No other team can do that.

Sarah Kennedy: If marketing wants a seat at the top table, then it is up to us to show our worth. Marketing really must be the author and architect of an unforgettable experience for the customer. If we can do that, and we can show the mastery of data and how it can drive growth, then we will make ourselves critical to the development of business strategy.

Antonia Wade: The ownership of insight is what makes marketing so critical to the development of the business. Insight and understanding our customers is something no other team has. So, marketing is already in a great position; however, it is vital that we foster a culture of experimentation and curiosity. It is up to us to go out and find out how they want to buy and then provide that information to the business.

In the same conversation, Carol, Sarah, and Antonia also talked about customer engagement and their most successful C-suite programs in 2021.

Listen to episode 25 of the C-Suite Marketing podcast to hear how they exceeded their own expectations on executive engagement.

Note: If you want to view the replay of the full presentation from Marketing Vision 2021, please go to our On-Demand page for more details. If you registered for the conference, then you already have access. The on-demand content is free for members and a nominal charge for non-members.