The question came up in a recent conversation. Fair point.

Working in UK B2B tech usually means you're the EMEA arm of a US-HQ'd company. I’ve been blessed with International and Global roles, but if you’re an EMEA marketer can you really call yourself CMO?

I think of it like cooking with three scenarios:

𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘂. Pick what you want from pre-made options.
𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗲. Follow it exactly. No substitutions.
𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀. Make something amazing.

At Microsoft 20 years ago? Pure menu. Literal ring-binder of approved campaigns.

But regional marketing has evolved. US companies realised there's value in having experienced people who understand 40+ countries. Cultural nuances. Economic realities. Political landscapes.

Today's EMEA marketing leaders:

Operate at the highest level with senior GTM leadership teams with decades of experience (and Ferrari collections to prove it)
Make strategic decisions based on deep customer understanding
Build market-specific activations from scratch that drive awareness
Know how to run multi-national launches & campaigns across borders (and, no, EMEA is not a single country)
Design pricing, promotions and partnerships that actually work locally

That's CMO work.

Of course, marketing is a broad church - every CMO position can mean something different: from full product & revenue responsibility through to brand & corporate marketing only.

The title matters less than the scope. Geography doesn't diminish responsibility. If you're setting strategy, not just executing it - if you're using ingredients, not given a menu - you're doing CMO-level work.

Own your experience. Call it what it is.