There’s always been a clear distinction between the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and the Chief Information Officer (CIO) in organisations. No matter how you choose to look at it, right-brain vs left-brain or creative vs analytical, the two have always been inherently different.
There’s every chance one picked on the other at high school.
But we’ve seen some huge changes in recent times, and they all point to the need for these two personalities to come together.
The average person now seeks to consume information where they want and when they want, often across multiple devices, including tablet and mobile. Providing a seamless experience for this new consumer is no mean feat.
Big data, mobility and cloud computing; they’re as much a part of the business vernacular now as crowd funding, and they pose perhaps the greatest challenges for today’s CMO.
For a business to succeed and stay relevant in a competitive environment, the CMO is now charged with shacking up with the CIO.
Can the CIO role be engulfed by a new generation of CMO?
The new generation of marketers have a basic understanding of information technology. But it is important not to underestimate the role of the CIO and the breadth of their expertise. In my opinion, the role of the CIO is not in any danger.
IBM has been one of the key thought leaders on this topic and in 2011 they undertook the largest study of CMOs, highlighting some key concerns, including:
- 71 percent believe they are unprepared to deal with the explosion of data
- 68 percent are unprepared to handle social media
The new generation marketer is prepared for social media so this should not be a concern. However, the explosion of big data and the ability to interpret it accurately is a critical task that will be the responsibility of the CIO.
So how does this awkward relationship for the future move forward?
Through collaboration and respect. It’s a basic formula but one that will prove a stumbling block within high-pressure environments and big egos. Personality clashes can potentially deny the consumer the experience they’re seeking and ultimately cause the downfall of some of the big brands and companies that we know today.
Let me expand on my suggestion of collaboration.
On a personal level, both the CMO and the CIO should seek to gain a better understanding of the other’s role within the organisation, as well as what their objectives are and why. The lines of communication could be opened with regular workshops between their respective teams. If the CEO has not already invited the CIO into strategic marketing discussions, they should.
Software will also play a huge role in collaboration. The consumer lives in a world of 24-hour news and Twitter feeds. The opportunity to respond or capitalise on a comment or moment fades with time, and the viral nature of social media can judge a brand irrelevant if they take too long. So the development and implementation of collaborative software (the role of the CIO) will be crucial in maintaining relevance. Not that it was a task of the CIO, but how quick and opportunistic was Oreo’s tweet at the Superbowl?
The roles, of course, will be determined largely by the CEO within the respective organisations.
How will the CEO see the roles moving forward? How will budgets be distributed?
Some may welcome such collaboration and invite the CIO into those strategic marketing discussions. The level of collaboration between the CMO and CIO may be a blessing for the CIO, as it could be a way of getting a larger slice of the budget. Up until now, the CIO has had to contend with the stubborn belief that the CMO is there to create sales and build revenue, whilst the CIO is there to streamline processes and save money.
Adding to this, Gartner Research suggests that CMOs will spend more money on technology than the CIO by 2017. A notion that would have been laughed out of the boardroom only a few years ago.
Image credit: caritophotography
If you want to read more check out some of the sources below:
Businesses plan to increase digital marketing budgets this year
Insights: CMO & CIO research
CMOs will outspend CIOs on technology by 2017 [infographic]