In a Marketing Week article, Joe Tripodi, the former CMO of Coca-Cola, Bank of America, and Subway, reflects on 40 years of experience in marketing. Some highlights:
“My biggest pet peeve is that people, even some at the most senior levels in some of the biggest companies, think an ad campaign is going to solve broader business issues.”
He says a CMO must have an “intellectual curiosity and conviction in what you believe.”
“You also need to be ruthlessly focused on the customer and not the bureaucracy of your company and you need to be the voice of the customer at the table for the senior leadership.”
“I know it is all going towards data and analytics but I think the CMO has to represent and understand the heartbeat of the brand. Yes you have to have the analytics and the targeting and the research and all those other things, but a successful CMO will be the customer advocate in the management team and also be a good teacher.”