CMOs are the Apple of the CEO's Eyes. Or how to hire a good apple.

Yo!

Way back in 2007 I brought back an iPhone - the one and only at that time! - from New York to Bangalore for my husband. It was then - as now - a hugely hyped product. It is pretty amazing that 17 years later people still eagerly await the launch of a new Apple phone. Yeah, every year the jokes about selling kidneys resurface, and Apple continues to laugh its way to the bank as over 2 billion people have parted with their cash and less valuable organs to own an iphone. I would have thought it would be an implantable organ by now!  

Is Apple Still Fresh?

Apple Intelligence brings to mind good ole' Air India trying to own ai. The photo based information search sounds awesome but I don't know why they can't enable it on my old phone. Call me biased, but the iPhone - or is it aiPhone now -  is more surround than core brand now. Apple needs chief marketers as much as it needs chief scientists. Simplicity is an easier to understand human need than data privacy. When you run out of functional differentiation, we must move to surround attributes - and Apple is rightly doing so. The more we rely on surround, the more we rely on narrative and hence marketing becomes super important.  

Jobs to Jobs

I thought Taylor Swift's endorsement of Kamala Harris, especially signing off as the Childless Cat Lady, was a brilliant piece of communication. I went haring off to research who was her marketing head - and realized she probably does a lot of her brand strategy herself. Steve Jobs was remarkable in that he was great at marketing and product design. Many founders bring this combination of skills - that's what makes them unbeatable. Even the best mousetrap without cheese is not going to catch mice. Companies from emerging markets tend to be way better at the product than the branding, which makes it even more important for them to find the Chief Marketing Officer.  

My choir & how that is somehow connected to marketing

I recently signed up for a choir. My last time with one was in school. The Music Director here is in a whole different league - talks about the colour of the sound, and the different parts visualizing the outcome - and does a fabulous job of showing us how everyone can do their thing and still be in harmony. That, actually, is what a good CMO does - they know the many different ways in which marketing tools can sing and how to bring it all together to deliver results.  

So what do CEOs want marketers to do?

We asked a 100+ CEOs in India, and what their priorities are makes an interesting read. As recent entrants into the CMO recruitment space, what was even more interesting was what matters in hiring! And if you think it is HR's report, you're wrong :) Here's the report on Chief Marketing Officer hiring in India. Many CMOs are hired from outside the company - so do ping me if you need help! Paul Writer's extensive community of marketers positions us really well for this.  

The changing role of CMOs

AI will make data ever more easily accessible and understandable. It will trend towards a perfect market for goods that are comparable. Which is why you need to ensure your product or service is NOT comparable to anyone else's. Of course you have to focus on innovation, but again, with AI products can be copied, so the narrative and the experience matter a lot more. Every aspect of the 4Ps could be used to make your offering unique - that's what great Chief Marketing Officers do.

Is age a criteria for recruitment?

In some countries you cannot discriminate by age in recruitment. I think that is a great step and my first age-blind hire was a wonderful experience for all of us involved. In our research report we ask that question, and the results were heartening. But the onus is on marketers to stay in tune with the cultural narrative. We should be able to understand if someone says that Hanumankind looks like a young Freddie Mercury. As influencer marketing hits mainstream understanding the cultural preferences of your audience is super important. If you are selling to people in your age group and demographic, then easy peasy.  But if you're not you've got to ensure that you are clued into their "bubbles". This may require you to deliberately break the algorithm. Thanks for keeping me clued in on new genres. (I was about to say "young" but that's pretty relative).