I often wonder what the life of a CMO is like in a publicly-traded company. From a marketing standpoint they’re constrained by SEC, Safe Harbor and Sarbanes-Oxley. They have to be very cautious in their forward-looking statements. Does that suppress their ability to paint a vivid picture for their customers? And even their employees?
Is the CMO of a public company catering to the customer or catering to Wall Street? In reality they’re having to balance the needs of both, and to me that’s kind of a shame.
So how is it different for SAS? For one thing, we can project our vision of the future and hope it will spark reaction and get feedback from customers. It’s a very collaborative and open process. (It’s well suited for social media, by the way.)
A lot of consumer packaged goods organizations do that, but they have to be very careful. If they set an expectation in the marketplace while they’re feeling the market out, that could turn into Wall Street expectations. Then rumors start abounding and when the reality doesn’t live up to the hype, that can impact their stock price. Then the finance guys get involved and before you know it you’re laying people off.
That’s another benefit of being privately held. We don’t have to manage to the expectations of Wall Street. We can create campaigns and strategies and give them time to develop.
Imagine the challenge they face at Apple. Is there any company that generates more consumer product rumor and speculation? I wonder how much their marketing strategy fluctuates with the share price.
I’ve read different reports that put the average tenure of a CMO at somewhere between 18 and 24 months, and I’m not surprised. But that’s both a symptom and a cause of the problem. How can you create a comprehensive marketing plan that will have long-term benefit if you have to justify your existence every day based on the ticker?
Jim Davis, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for SAS, is responsible for providing strategic direction for SAS products, solutions and services and presenting the SAS brand worldwide. Additionally, he oversees a number of operational units including Publications, Education, and Alliances and Channels. In this blog he writes about the larger issues that affect a global business, and what it takes to be competitive in the 21st century. Read more about Jim.
