๐๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐๐ป'๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ. ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ข๐!
Always a pleasure to be invited to the HotTopics CMO Studio at BAFTA. This year, one theme kept resurfacing: B2B marketing continues to have an identity crisis.
We kicked off with the classic debate: Do we actually need a CMO? Should marketing report into sales? The CRO? The CGO?
Marketing might be the only function still regularly asked to justify whether it belongs in the building. We remain the function that must bring the receipts - every month, every quarter - to prove our worth.
And yetโฆ the data says something very different.
Hot Topicsโ benchmark research shows companies with CMOs on the board grow 2.5x faster than those without. Thatโs not a rounding error - thatโs a strategy.
Other interesting reading was, according to HotTopics own research, the top three priorities for CMOs in 2025:
1๏ธโฃ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐-๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ฝ. Marketing still struggles to reach senior decision makers. Millennial buyers dominate. Committees rule. Research happens long before intent surfaces.
2๏ธโฃ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ & ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒโฆ ๐ฎ ๐ท๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐. In my 25+ years, this theme has never left the stage. It just rebrands itself every few years.
3๏ธโฃ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ต ๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐๐, ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ป. With more strong candidates in the market, hiring isnโt the burning issue it was. Instead, attribution has taken centre stage - yet another way of asking marketing to prove its value.
So are we in crisis? Maybe. But itโs a productive one.
Great marketing still exists. So does poor marketing. Most of us operate somewhere between the two, nudging things forward - educating, influencing and building impact in organisations that donโt always see it.
But hereโs the positive: conversations like this move the industry on.
They sharpen our thinking, reconnect us with purpose, and remind the business world that marketing is a growth engine - when itโs understood and empowered.
Huge thanks to the Hot Topics team for sparking the debate and bringing us all together. Philip Randerson Peter Stojanovic Faith Wheller Ruth Rowan Ross E. Chapman Duncan Harris