The short life of the marketing chief; guts, glory and blood shed

"Stroll through the C-suite at many companies, and it's an easy bet which executive is a dead man (or woman) walking: the chief marketing officer. CMOs have lasted 26 months on average these days, says recruiter Spencer Stuart, vs. 44 months for CEOs. CMOs at Chico's (CHS), Home Depot (HD), MySpace (NWS), and Rite Aid (RAD) all left their posts after short tenures" said Business Week a few years ago. WHY? Why is it that the chief marketing guy is at the cross hairs too often? Having been in leading marketing roles of high technology companies, I have seen my share of guts, glory and blood shed in the job.

Fundamentally, marketing a product or a company requires understanding the customers and a gut on the direction of the market. A marketing chief of any company is often required to present a detailed and convincing business case showing potential revenues and profits for 5 years from start of production or sometimes 5 years from start of program. Nonetheless, in a market and a customer base where end consumer needs & wants are altered every year or even every few months, it is absolutely impossible to defend a return on investment (ROI) for the next 5 years. With shifting sands underneath, no one, in all honesty, has a clue about the next year. Even worse, in a semiconductor company, where the design cycle of the product takes over 2 years and $20 Million, there is no way for a marketing guy to even alter the features and functions of a product once the product is deep in the design process and the success is determined a few more years later when the customer is in production. In such markets with a long design cycle, long customer engagement cycles and lack of options to test the waters on a regular basis during development process, there is a high likelihood of the product not meeting the exact needs/requirements of the future market.

Since most people in a company tend to have an opinion on the direction of the company or a product, the marketing chief whose job it is to define a strategy for the unknowns in the future has every person around him/her second guessing them and looking over their shoulders. Few have any opinions on their counterparts in finance, operations or engineering. In addition, with most marketing strategies including branding being a long term process, it is only a matter of time for the financial markets looking for quarterly and monthly improvements to lay the blame on the chief marketer.

In my short experience of 20 years in the high technology industry, it is definitely better to be the CEO, CFO, CIO or any other CXO except CMO unless the CEO has been in a chief marketing role to understand the complications involved or has the guts to shield CMO from short term complaints from everyone around them in the interest of the long term future of the company. Believe me, every marketing chief requires lots of guts to serve in a position with little glory and lots of blood shed. Now, tell me why anyone would seek a leading marketing job? Genuine interest to change the world? This ain't a job for the faint hearted for sure.

Sprinter vs. Marathoner; Who do you choose?

Samuel Kamau Wanjiru from Kenya broke the Olympic record during 2008 Summer Olympics with a 2hr 6 min run of the 26 miles while at the same time Usain Bolt from Jamaica broke both 100m and 200m sprints with 9.69s and 19.30s. Both Usain and Samuel are phenomenal athletes of their generation and are revered in their own runs. However, can Usain be half as good as Samuel in running a marathon race or will Samuel give Usain a run for his money in short distance runs? Everyone of you probably will guess it right. Usain CANNOT be the best marathon runner and Samuel CANNOT be the best sprinter. Why? Researchers have proven that some are built to be sprinters while others are built to be marathoners and then there are others in between. This is pretty much true in our professional environment as well. There are employees who perform their best in short bursts of projects while there are some who can slog consistently through long projects.

Every team requires both sprinters and long distance runners. We need employees that bring in tons of creative energy to work on either short term projects or get a long term project going. However, we absolutely need consistent long term performers to take on the project to the very end. Let me give specific examples of job functions that have shown clear tendencies towards sprinter or marathoner. Sales and marketing folks typically have sprinter like qualities. They need tons of energy to break into a customer or into a market and need that energy to energize the rest of the team behind them. Project managers on the other hand tend to have marathoner like qualities as they have to drive a project over the long term. In Industries such as semiconductors, most design projects take over 2 years to production and therefore require marathoners who can strive to the end.

It is the interest of the company and everyone of its managers to keep their eyes open to see the sprinter or marathoner among everyone its team members. This innate ability to perform with maximum efficiency in short bursts versus perform with consistency over the long term should not only be recognized but also utilized the improve the efficiency of management of team's resources in any company. If you are a sprinter or a marathoner, accept it and look for job functions that fit it with your innate characteristics to maximize your chances for success.