PHOTO:
Tim Mossholder
No other executives had to adjust to 2020 quite like CMOs. Plans and messaging campaigns became obsolete only a few weeks into the year. Questions of revenue and regulation prevented businesses from making significant investments into marketing initiatives. For CMOs, realistic goals quickly evolved into complete unknowns.
Despite last year s struggles, 2021 looks to be a more promising and more stable period for marketing leaders. Assuming a second prolonged global catastrophe does not occur, businesses should have a much firmer grasp of what they can and cannot expect to achieve.
This return to stability will not be a return to normalcy, though. The role of the CMO evolved quickly and permanently over the last year. Skills that allowed CMOs to thrive in the past will still hold value, but in 2021, the list of priorities will change. Outsourced CMOs will become even more common. Some high-level marketing competencies will be less useful than before, while o