The CIO and CMO relationship is quickly becoming a popular case study for cross-departmental collaboration success. As far back as 2013, McKinsey reported that data-driven companies are 5% more productive and 6% more profitable, so naturally, the CIO and CMO relationship would seem like a simple way to facilitate such data-driven benefits, but what do you actually need to know to make it happen? To find out, we connected with Victoria Godfrey, CMO of Avention for a quick Q&A session, and here’s what we learned…
CMO Essentials:
To an outsider, collaboration among executives, in general, would seem like a simple yet sensible practice. Why aren’t alliances between CMOs and CIOs already standard partnerships in most organizations, and what do you think has changed to make this partnership more practical?
Victoria Godfrey:
Partnerships between CMOs and CIOs are not standard practice yet because these two functions have very different — and, at times, competing — priorities and objectives. Because of this, CMOs and CIOs look at the world through different lenses, approaching problems in different ways. While CMOs tend to be more creative, CIOs are often focused on the technical details. However, as the marketing function has become increasingly dependent on data and analytics, CMOs are realizing they need to cross the organizational divide and work with CIOs and the IT team. The emphasis on data is driving CMOs to push for more productive partnerships with CIOs because their individual, departmental and overall business success is dependent on data and technology, which is the CIOs’ area of expertise.
CMO Essentials:
Despite the change-factor you noted, are there any additional barriers that you see that may still hinder an effective relationship between a CIO and a CMO?
Victoria Godfrey:
Culture, both at the company and at the departmental levels, could negatively impact the CIO-CMO relationship. For the partnership between a CIO and CMO to be productive, both parties need to be willing to collaborate, set aside cultural differences and work toward joint goals that impact the overall business, and not just their own department’s objectives.
CMO Essentials:
Business intelligence research shows that the top pressure cited by 42% of marketers is that too many decisions are based on an incomplete understanding of information. Meanwhile, for another 27% of marketers, data being too fragmented to create a clear picture of marketing operations and performance is a top pressure. How do you see these pressures impacting the relationship between CIOs and CMOs, and do you believe there are more opportunities for gain or obstacles to overcome?
Victoria Godfrey:
Data is important for every function within an organization, including the marketing department. Because everyone – marketers included – needs data, but nobody has a clear picture of what the data means, the CIO and his team feel pressure from every direction to deliver. The question becomes how the CIO collaborates with the heads of other departments to solve the data issue. Because it is a challenge that affects the entire organization, getting data out of siloes and making it usable to accomplish overarching business objectives for the company becomes a forced collaboration effort, which once overcome, represents an opportunity to foster more effective cooperation long-term.
CMO Essentials:
When CIO and CMO relationships do work well, what kind of advantages or benefits do businesses enjoy?
Victoria Godfrey:
When the CIO and CMO work well together, they should be working toward goals that benefit the overall organization. Beyond better business results like increased sales or reduced operating costs, a good CMO-CIO relationship produces intangible benefits, as well. When the two parties can align and work well together, the spirit of collaboration trickles down to the teams below them and makes it easier for cooperation to become standard practice. When teams work effectively together, it drives even stronger business results, and eventually, as others in the organization see the successfulness of a cross-functional collaboration, it becomes a part of the company’s culture to foster teamwork between different departments.
CMO Essentials:
To close on a bit of a lighter note, among famous duos in history and pop culture – Batman and Robin, Bonnie and Clyde, Tom and Jerry, Simon and Garfunkel, etc. – who, in your opinion, would best represent the relationship between the CIO and the CMO and why?
Victoria Godfrey:
The CIO-CMO relationship resembles that of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. When they first meet, Holmes is a solo artist, and sees his new roommate Watson merely as a sounding bound. Holmes spends the early days bragging to Watson about the crimes he solves, with little regard for Watson’s response or opinions on the matter. But over time, Holmes begins to see Watson’s questions and writings as an integral part of his detective work and professional success. While the two had completely different ways of thinking and communicating, both of their careers benefitted from the involvement of the other. In much the same way, CMOs and CIOs can have very different personalities, working styles and objectives, but when they come together, they are able to achieve something greater for the overall good of their company.
About Victoria: Victoria Godfrey is the chief marketing officer of Avention. Prior to joining Avention, she spent five years running her own marketing and research company, Godfrey Research. Previously, Victoria was the chief marketing officer of Zipcar. She has an international MBA from Thunderbird (The American Graduate School of International Management) and a bachelor’s degree from The University of Vermont. Since 2001, Victoria has taught marketing at the Gordon Institute at Tufts University.
