Perhaps never before has the chief marketing officer been so centrally in charge their organization’s overall response, strategy and action plan to move out of and through a crisis.
The many layers of adversity the coronavirus has thrown at companies – managing shifting market demand, communicating the organizations position, considerations for brand strategy, guiding employees through a new work environment, etc – requires marketing leaders to work at the forefront in each and every conversation.
And for marketing leaders who have long strove to elevate their influence beyond brand, demand and other marketing programs, this is your moment. This will be where a new wave of future CEOs are created directly from the marketing organization. This is when marketing leaders will demonstrate their ability to lead entire organizations, even entire markets.
It’s a scary time, for sure. It’s also an exciting time to be a marketing leader.
I sensed some of that energy and