September 12, 2008 | Tags:
careers,
CMO
Earlier this week we talked about basic components for a successful CMO tenure (hopefully a lot longer than the sub-two year average). We talked about the need to have the agencies tied to upside and downside (for the metrics they can enable). We also talked about the need to celebrate agreed successes – however small because they are part of a pathway or journey we can control. And finally the best CMOs continually tell us that balancing short term and long term in all decisions leads to a less frantic “tail chasing” existence.
A number of years ago (2006), Spencer Stuart ran a then annual study on the average tenure of a CMO. It had dropped since 2005 a little but was around two years. (Advertising Age, “CMO’s You Have 23 Months to Live.” June 19, 2006). Just think that this was taken in what was a relative boom period compared to now. Think about the pressures now, especially as we are in a very different economic environment.