Amidst a rapidly evolving marketing landscape, customer engagement methods have undergone a radical transformation. Yet, while innovative tools and strategies continually emerge, the structural framework within marketing departments remains anchored in practices dating back over 40 years.

To illustrate how marketing executives can harness new ways to engage, measure, and optimize their campaigns, Reuters Events have just launched our latest marketing report – ‘Future Marketing: C-Suite Aligned, Visible and Primed for Growth’.

This 11-page report features commentary from industry leaders across leading organizations such as AT&T, Samsung Electronics America, Blue Origin, and UScellular. These four CMOs offer critical strategies on aligning marketing with business objectives to drive tangible ROI.

Here’s what’s inside:

• Wisdom straight from leaders from prestigious companies, sharing tricks that go beyond typical segmentation.
• Practical steps to sync up marketing with C-suite goals and ace those communication strategies.
• 5 ways to align marketing with business success.

Section 1: C-suite alignment is the innovation sweet spot

If finance holds the purse string and marketing as a finger on the pulse of markets and buying behavior, then a strong collaboration between marketing and finance is a no brainer.

In a recent survey by the CMO Council and KPMG, it was found that 76% of marketing leaders were either “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with their strong finance-marketing collaboration. This strong relationship is integral to innovation, with 27% more effective marketers being able to innovate.

Janna Ducich, former CMO and SVP of Marketing Operations & Planning at AT&T, emphasizes the need for clear role definition and accountability to demonstrate the impact of marketing on the business, stating that marketing is an investment, not a cost.

Section 2: A focus on fundamentals – and the metrics that matter

Ensuring the right message reaches the right audience requires timely access to integrated and accurate customer data. The CMO Council and KPMG survey found that organizations often hesitate to share data seamlessly between marketing and finance, with 33% expressing reluctance.

For effective collaboration, there must be a shared understanding of key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics, which may vary depending on the sector. Alignment with organizational goals and a focus on foundational marketing principles are crucial.

“Marketing must be aligned with the organizational definition of success, and the key metrics are those that drive the organization, not what drives marketing,” says Jason Galloway, Principal, Customer Advisory Lead, KPMG US.

Section 3: Brand equity and empathy drives value

Recent IPSOS research establishes a strong link between a positive corporate reputation and business efficiency, especially during crises. More than half (51%) of respondents with significant trust in a company would give it the benefit of the doubt, compared to only 10% who felt neutral. The study also reveals a clear relationship between trust and marketing efficiency, indicating that customers are not only more receptive to messages from trusted organizations but are also willing to pay a premium for their products.

Achieving that relationship is whether more challenging, however, as Galloway at KPMG explains: “without true visibility into what is planned, committed and actually spent, marketers cannot shift focus quickly when world events demand it”.

Increasingly, more CFOs are realizing that, as an operational metric, brand strength and brand health are important factors.

Section 4: Advancing tech, skills and a single source of truth

Today, marketing is a much more real-time function that it used to be. So, while the fundamentals may be the same, the core skills are different. “Two or three years ago, no marketer was using AI, nor were they trained to be a really good prompt writer,” says Blue Origin CMO Kircos.

Exploring the application of Generative AI in business use cases presents a current opportunity. While reducing costs is a primary objective, savvy marketers are strategically evaluating its relevance, as is customary with any emerging technology.

AT&T is exploring use cases for both traditional and generative AI. “We’ve already seen measurable progress in lowering customer support costs, unlocking software development efficiencies and improving our network design”, says AT&Ts Ducich.

Section 5: Change, communication and the need for speed

Any change is hard, but it is also continuous, and it is often underinvested. So, while having the right skillsets in the right seats is important, Galloway says “organizational modeling is not a one and done thing”. Nor is there one organizational structure that works for all, not even within sectors. Multiple questions need consideration: is the company global or local; what is the culture; where are they in the growth cycle; what are they hoping to accomplish?

The way marketing is organized specifically, where it sites and what it sits with, is another evolving issue.

If you’d like to learn more, you can access the full report here.