Hello,
As a CEO, I work closely with marketing teams… big ones, small ones, in-house and agencies. And one thing I’ve noticed over the years is that very few people actually talk about what a Chief Marketing Officer does in a way that’s honest and useful.
So today, that’s what I’m doing!
MORE THAN MARKETING
The first thing I’d tell anyone about this role is that the title undersells the job. ‘Marketing’ sounds like one department, but from what I’ve seen sitting in rooms with these people, a CMO is really a growth architect… someone who sits at the intersection of brand, data, culture and revenue.
The range is truly fascinating in a single day. In my experience:
- A strong CMO can be reviewing campaign performance data
- Presenting brand strategy to the board at noon
- Signing off on a creator partnership
- They own positioning, customer acquisition, digital, product launches.
It’s one of the broadest briefs in any C-suite. What makes it genuinely hard is that you have to be creative enough to build something people love and analytical enough to justify every dollar. That combination of skills is rare. When you find it, you understand why great CMOs are so valued.
HOW THEY HOOK YOU
The best CMOs I’ve encountered are students of human behaviour. They understand why people make the decisions they make, and they build campaigns around those patterns.
- CeraVe’s collaboration with Michael Cera in 2024. A skincare brand building an entire viral campaign around the coincidence of an actor’s name. It was self-aware, and easy to understand/relate.
- Duolingo in 2025. ‘Killing’ their own mascot as a marketing stunt, generating global headlines without buying a single media placement.
Both campaigns worked because a CMO understood one thing: people share what surprises them, what makes them feel something, and what looks interesting enough for their attention. Every seemingly spontaneous campaign moment is engineered.
SHAPING CULTURE WITHOUT CHASING IT
CMOs don’t follow culture. They make it… and that distinction is everything!
Following culture means reacting, jumping on whatever’s trending, trying to be relevant by being fast. Unfortunately, that will produce forgettable work. Making culture means having a strong enough point of view and adding something to the conversation rather than just repeating it.
- Gap’s decision to build a campaign around Tyla Instagram, Baby Miko Instagram, Hailey Bieber Instagram and Katseye Instagram means they know people/names that are relevant and can shift markets. Someone in that marketing team sees things and moved early.
The CMOs who shape culture are the ones who stay genuinely curious about people, not just their target audience. They pay attention to subcultures, movements, what younger generations care about and what’s changing in society.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
After working alongside marketing leaders at brands of every size, what I’ve come to believe is that the CMO is the most human role in any C-suite. Every other executive is primarily optimising a system. The CMO is optimising how people feel and how they can connect.
And in a world where AI is taking over more and more of the operational and analytical work, that human skill (understanding what moves people, what they care about, what they’ll remember), becomes more valuable.
If you’re drawn to this career, I think you’re drawn to it for the right reason. It’s one of the few roles where creativity, strategy, culture, and leadership all live in the same job description. Just go in knowing the bar is high, the pressure is real, and the ones who last are the ones who never stop learning how people work!
Hope you liked today’s letter, lots of info I hope you learn from. See you next week.
-Benni
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