Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

The Changing Role of the CMO — Stephanie Fierman

Stephanie Fierman is one of Forbes’ 50 most influential CMOs on social media and has held senior leadership roles at MediaCom, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Time Warner. Stephanie has also run her own consultancy firm, working with clients such as Equifax and NBC Universal. She joins the show to talk about the role of women in tech, how we can really get better at inclusivity in organizations and level the playing field at the gender level, and how we can work with the CEO and company to create realistic expectations.

Takeaways:

  • All women’s leadership programs aren’t created equally. We must look at the actual numbers and opportunities they provide and not just be blinded by the big giant pink cupcakes.
  • For conferences and gatherings that promote inclusivity, they should have a representation that mirrors the environments they are talking about. For every woman that goes to these programs, we also need men in attendance as well.
  • Kevin saw it get easier to bring women into conferences and digital marketing events when it moved from tech to advertising.
  • When you are a CMO, every tool is in service of the objective of marketing, and tech and data certainly apply.
  • Often the CMO and CEO have diverging expectations, and that can lead to confusion about what the main focus should be on.
  • The CMO role can be one of very high turnover, and the typical lifespan of a CMO is only 43 months of tenure.
  • When Stephanie is looking for career opportunities, she doesn’t hitch her wagon to a certain CMO but instead checks in with a culture of growth and change.
  • A great CMO leans on their agency and remains humble enough to admit there is always new information to learn and put in practice.
  •  
  • Quotes: