CMOs tell execs to back off as they stake claim on creativity

Marketing leaders from Suncorp, Telstra, and Uber believe that boards and executives must leave creativity to the experts and should not be involved in marketing activities.

Uber senior director and head of international marketing Lucinda Barlow, Telstra chief marketing officer Brent Smart, Nine chief marketing officer Liana Dubois and Suncorp EGM brand & marketing Mim Haysom at This Way Up conference in Sydney.

Suncorp executive general manager of brand & marketing Mim Haysom has warned the C-suite to stop interfering in creative marketing decisions.

Speaking on a panel alongside marketing leaders from Telstra, Uber and Nine at the Advertising Council of Australia’s annual Festival of Creativity, This Way Up, Ms Haysom said she “strongly” believed that boards and C-suite executives should not be involved in the day-to-day running of marketing departments beyond the budget approval process.

Responding to a question from Nine chief marketing officer Liana Dubois about how the marketing leaders navigate interference from senior executives, Ms Haysom said: “I don’t take creative ideas anywhere else for approval. I firmly believe that as the chief marketing officer, you are accountable for your brand and you are accountable for your creative. Our creative does not go anywhere else for approval.

“Do I have to get approval on budget from the CFO? Absolutely. But we don’t share creative with the execs, the C- suite, the board. It doesn’t happen. (My agency) knows that when they come in the room with me I have the decision-making rights and that’s how it should be.

“I don’t think it’s fair grabbing chief creative officers and shoving them in front of a board who are not necessarily marketers and not necessarily creative and asking them to dance. I think it’s terrible and I think that the organisations doing that need to stop.”

Ms Haysom said her marketing department worked closely with its creative advertising agency Leo Burnett to analyse all marketing activity and uses the data and insights to build business cases, but only then were these shared with other executives for budget approval.

Haysom’s comments were applauded by the other senior marketing panellists. Uber senior director and head of international marketing for Asia-Pacific, EMEA and Latin America, Lucinda Barlow, said: “I totally agree. Do (executives) have decision-making ability? No. On budgets, yes, but not on the work.”

Ms Barlow said Uber’s marketing division used the business’s positive performance, which has seen it claim a dominant No.1 position both in the ride share and food delivery categories in Australia. “It is extraordinary what great results and great work does for the culture in a company, so we leverage that internally.”

Telstra chief marketing officer Brent Smart said: “I couldn’t agree more with what Mim said. I think CMOs have to have conviction. You are the chief marketing officer, act like it. It’s really hard (for the board) to say no to conviction.”

The panel, which included chief creative officers from leading advertising agencies including Special, Leo Burnett and Bear Meets Eagle on Fire, explored how agencies and marketers create strong creative cultures.

Mr Smart said: “If you want the work to thrive, you have to create a culture with equal amounts of psychosocial safety and intellectual honesty. You have to be kind to the work and the people making it.”

The panellists comments follow recent remarks by advertising industry veteran Sir Martin Sorrell, who said CMOs need to take control of their departments. Speaking exclusively to The Growth Agenda, Mr Sorrell said, “The three things CMOs should worry about are agility, taking back control and doing more internally.”

It also comes at a difficult time for the marketing industry, which is feeling the impact of media fragmentation and rapidly changing consumer behaviours. Chief marketing officers are under pressure to bolster the return on investment of marketing activities and prove the investment in these activities is providing business impacts and growth.

Marketers are facing these pressures, along with the impact of the economic headwinds and dwindling consumer confidence, all of which is driving organisations to reassess marketing budgets, with many already facing significant cuts.

The challenges have driven a rise in performance marketing activity, which is digital marketing campaigns that are led by the results. However, the shift to this activity has been criticised for its over-emphasis on data and a lack of creativity, with the latest research suggesting it is more likely to be considered “dull” and costs more money.

DANIELLE LONG