CMOs Are Losing Z's

CMOs aren’t sleeping much these days.

And when you ask them what's keeping them up at night — there’s a discernible pattern in their answers…

No surprise — it’s all about that bottom line (sounds like a Megan Trainor song?).

But what’s particularly troubling for our marketing brethren, and a major source of their sleepless nights, is this: getting a decent return on their marketing investment. Their ROMI.

Seems that the turbulent economy, declining corporate profits, and steep budget cuts, combined with higher and higher consumer expectations are the stuff of nightmares, according to the 2023 edition of a periodic survey by Brand Keys.

The study asked 522 CMOs and marketing managers and found that adopting and managing the right AI tools is also rapidly becoming a source of their insomnia.

"When you ask CMOs what is keeping them up at night, there’s a discernable pattern in their answers — it’s all about that bottom line"

Other pressing issues (see below) include budget cuts, assessing how loyalty affects consumer behavior, measuring consumer attention levels, managing consumer expectations, and failing to evolve with their brands' audience.

“CMOs and brand managers have plenty of pressure-treated terrors to keep them up, particularly given the new-ish normal of a post-COVID marketplace, supplemented with a roller coaster economy, so we thought we’d again take a look at which issues are most responsible for their sleepless nights," notes Brand Keys Founder and President Robert Passikoff, noting that other concerns -- especially COVID-19-related ones – are now waning.

Among other problems starting to go away are, "Work-From-Home/ Remote Working," and "COVID management issues" which were down -14% and -15%, respectively.

Also, "Dealing with political dogma" has also fallen to 2021 levels, down -11%.

And two items that made last year’s list, but did not show up this year, include:

“Remote Working Upsetting Creativity” and “Employee Burnout."

"CMOs and brand managers have plenty of pressure-treated terrors to keep them up, particularly given the new-ish normal of a post-COVID marketplace, supplemented with a roller coaster economy"

At J&C, our expertise helps CMOs improve their direct marketing approach, which helps keep their response rates up and, subsequently, their marketing ROIs high.

Contact J&C today if you need help getting your message to the right audience — and your ROI moving in the right direction. Sleep tight, CMOs.