“These capability gaps are too acute to be closed through business as usual and without more focus are likely to persist and even grow,” the Dentsu report said. “Yet it is clear that brands are struggling to pivot towards new strategies.”
Authors of the report attributed the performance gap to several factors, including CMO performance metrics that encourage short-term growth over long-term change, the lack of long-term strategic planning and underinvestment. CMOs surveyed said that the metrics they’re primarily accountable for include growth of customer base, product and service innovation, short-term sales and revenue growth and reducing costs. CMOs tend to have the shortest tenure of those in the C-suite, so there is low incentive for them to consider anything beyond immediate successes, per Dentsu.
Almost half of respondents had strategic plans that looked ahead for just two years or less. CMOs in the automotive industry planned their marketing strategies the furthest out into the future (3.4 years), but those in media and entertainment, leisure and telecommunications had the shortest timeframes (2.0, 2.2 and 2.2 years, respectively).