Frank Cooper III,
chief marketing officer of Visa
“What’s not going to change is having a leader who can set a vision and drive an organization’s focus on the consumer, and the clear, simple benefit that our brands can bring to the consumer.”
Laura Knebusch,
chief marketing officer, Georgia-Pacific
“The trust we have in society in brands is a potential part of the solution. If you don’t have a brand-led leadership model, you’re dead.”
Jim Stengel, former chief marketer of Procter & Gamble Co., consultant, host of The CMO Podcast
"While most people fear AI is going to be ‘The Terminator,’ I think it’s going to be ‘Iron Man.’ I don’t think it’s going to replace most of us, but those who wrap themselves in AI are going to be more effective.”
David Wiser, managing director and global practice leader for marketing and sales, ZRG Partners (executive search firm)
“Chief customer, chief growth, chief commercial officers, whatever you want to call it, may be growing in popularity and taking over what was traditionally known as the CMO title.”
Soyoung Kang, President, Eos Products
"The organization chart will be inverted. The CMO is at the bottom of the organization chart, serving and supporting the team.”
Marc Pritchard, chief brand officer, Procter & Gamble Co. and chairman, Association of National Advertisers
“In 2027, you still have a job as CMO. In 2030, they might not need a CMO.”
Michael Kassan, founder of C3 Ventures
“CEOs and CFOs will realize the only breakout ideas they’re getting are from marketing.
So I think the glory days of marketing [and CMOs] are ahead of us.”
Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer, Mastercard and president, World Federation of Advertisers
“The CMO needs to be the person driving curiosity to the teams, because wherever we think we have progressed, it’s going to move on again and again. That means we’ll need to partner with external people more than ever.”
Nuria Hernandez Crespo,
CMO, Unilever Personal Care
“I have a hypothesis right now about the modern CMO needing to be much more commercially minded,” adding that while retail visibility is one of the biggest awareness drivers for brands, “it doesn’t fall under the CMO’s budget line.”
Donna Sharp, managing DIRECTOR, MediaLink
“If you don’t have a hunger to learn and adapt, it doesn’t matter how the [CMO] role is defined, you’ll never reach the level necessary to be successful.”
"Merging brand and performance marketing under a CMO has gained growing favor, at least rhetorically", Stuart said. "But there’s actually no single ideal marketing organization."
Greg Stuart, CEO, MMA Global
“You just don’t have that ambiguity or lack of consistency in expectation with other C-suite titles.”
Nick Primola, group executive VP, Association of National Advertisers
“Agencies aren’t dinosaurs. They’re cockroaches.” That is to say, they’ll adapt and be around past whatever Armageddon awaits the industry.
Rishad Tobaccowala, former agency CEO and board member, consultant, author and marketing futurist
“The CMO needs to be the person driving curiosity to the teams, because wherever we think we have progressed, it’s going to move on again and again. That means we’ll need to partner with external people more than ever.”
Nuria Hernandez Crespo,
CMO, Unilever Personal Care
"Merging brand and performance marketing under a CMO has gained growing favor, at least rhetorically", Stuart said. "But there’s actually no single ideal marketing organization."
GREG STUART, CEO, MMA GLOBAL
“You just don’t have that ambiguity or lack of consistency in expectation with other C-suite titles.”
NICK PRIMOLA, GROUP EXECUTIVE VP,
ASSOCIATION OF NATIONAL ADVERTISERS