New market forces
In the absence of State-specific intelligence, I recently went out to uncover the themes that Western Australian chief marketing officers (CMOs) were facing.
Not surprisingly, change was top of the agenda. But having collated the findings into a report called 'The evolving role of the CMO – The Western Australian Perspective' – the scale and pace of that change is all the more apparent.
It appears that two CMO typologies have emerged– those who have influence across and throughout their organisation, and those whose influence stays within their marketing remit.
If diversity in responsibility was consistent across the respondents, so too was the increasing need to solve more diverse problems. As one CMO I spoke to said: 'The role of the CMO these days is quite hard to articulate. Every role I have had, I've taken on things you would argue wouldn't be part of a traditional CMO function'.
Any recruiter writing a job description for a CMO in WA would have their work cut out.
Faced with so much change, we also found that WA CMOs must be comfortable in the uncomfortable and able to shift focus if there's strategic merit. As one CMO put it: 'Sometimes you just need to run towards the fire and hope there aren't too many fires at once'.
Interestingly though, CMOs acknowledged the importance of the rest of the business in adopting a similar mindset, as one said: 'There's time when we just need to pivot and say 'right, let's go'. So, we must be agile, the Board has to be agile, and our processes must facilitate that agility'.
More broadly, the 'brain drain' of talent leaving WA is being acutely felt – and whilst post-Covid there has been 'brain gain' across the State, the marketing industry still has bigger brands with greater opportunity enticing the best talent to head East or overseas.
And, in terms of the contribution that marketing can make to an organisation and its future, the CMOs I spoke to were able to speak with confidence about demonstrating impact, but less confidently about the organisation's belief in marketing as a function for delivering growth.
Finally, it was little surprise that the need to frequently navigate complex stakeholders and organisational bureaucracy was also raised. Just how much of the role is dedicated to this need was difficult for most to quantify, but one CMO claimed it took around 60% of their time.
And why is all of this important? It's fair to say that the pace in which change affects practitioners in our State will be variable. But make no mistake, if you are a marketer or CMO in WA, and change isn't happening
around
you just yet, it won't be long before it happens
to
you.
Therefore, it's critical that the CMOs of present and future remain adaptable, and open to embracing new thinking. If we cannot, then marketing's role as a value driver will be brought into question – both in our own State and beyond.
To request your copy of the full report, email matt.oakley@303mullenlowe.com.au
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The Age
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An earlier planning document indicated the project would create 398 jobs and some $15.8 million in salaries. The largest development project outside of Sydney is one step closer to being built after a protected development application - five years in consideration - was approved on Friday. The $665-million expansion of the Trinity Point precinct at Lake Macquarie has been sold as "Australia's leading waterfront destination" and Lake Macquarie's answer to the Sydney Opera House, but has been mired in planning red tape for the past five years. Johnson Property Group founder Kieth Johnson, who has held the site for 25 years, said it was a relief to see approvals finally secured after a years-long wait that left investors in uncertainty. "We have had investors and potential joint venture partners wanting to talk to us, but we couldn't do a thing," Mr Johnson said. "We had nothing to guarantee until (Friday, August 1)." 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