The CMO Challenge: Leading the Transformation Agenda and Generating Sustainable Growth in Times of Permacrisis

Companies have a major role to play in Europe’s future, with 73% of people believing that ‘brands and businesses should play a greater role in bringing Europe together'. This rose to 83% in Spain, and clearly a change in mindset is needed at the top for leaders to thrive, and survive.

We’ve seen demands for transparency and authenticity, with 43% of Spanish respondents believing that ‘brands and businesses should be required to be truthful'. I believe there’s huge consumer and employee demand for values and for bravery and a focus on ethical business principles and practices needs to be part of leaders’ personal brands.  

In our Truth About New Europe (TANE) study, people are demanding accountability and responsibility from business leaders: 88% of people believe that business leaders should be as accountable to the public as political leaders. This represents a massive opportunity for CMOs, by engaging in radical creativity and demonstrating the value-creation possibilities of marketing as an agent for change and not a cost centre. Currently, CMO tenure tends to last less than 4 years. To retain and grow their position, CMOs will need to act as a chief growth officer, with a focus on how companies can use marketing to further their growth. But the role of the CMO goes beyond growth; CMOs need to take their role as cultural ambassadors seriously. It is their responsibility to lead on company values and bring them to live through all marketing activities. With consistent behaviour and messaging, CMOs hold the key to help companies achieve their strategic goals and whilst delivering sustainable bottom line growth. 

It is a challenging environment for growth these days, especially in Europe. Cost of living pressures are all too visible, as 49% of Europeans said  in the TANE study that they worry about not being able to provide food for themselves or their families, and this rises to 57% in Spain. People are feeling the impact of rising inflation and their subsequent loss of purchasing power. However, in addition to these financial anxieties there is at the same time a clear concern around the need to protect the planet.  

Climate change has become the number one concern for Europeans, the TANE study said. This concern is pushing consumers to view business practices differently and 81% of people we surveyed believed ‘the future of business in Europe will require a circular economy.’ This rose to 86% in Spain, and yet few European-based companies currently count on a circular economy business model.  

Having said that, new stricter legislation in support of the environment will force companies to further push the sustainability agenda. As a region, regulatory compliance is important to us. We like to meet people’s expectations and new legislation will lead to the  rise to new business models. This move towards circularity – which impacts brands’ views about who they are and who they could be in the future – will also entail big investment costs. Businesses large and small will need to invest in sustainability and transform their business models in order to be compliant with EU legislation on sustainability that lies ahead of us. Now more than ever we need to innovate and reinvent our brands and businesses in order to meet the demands of consumers, whilst being careful not to make promises or claims we cannot fulfil. 

If we want to stay relevant to our customers, we need to have the ability to adapt to the changing world around us. We need to listen carefully, analyse people’s expectations and behaviours and make sure that we’re always one step ahead of them, so we can anticipate their problems and use radical creativity to provide appropriate solutions. 

Over the past few years we’ve lived in a state of permacrisis that isn’t going away; maybe that explains why exhausted consumers are asking brands and companies to provide them with a bit of joy. We need to communicate more optimism, and what could be more optimistic than brands having a positive social impact and shaping the future of Europe for good?

Building a golden future for Europe will take agility and a commitment to play an active role in improving the life of people whilst protecting the environment. For CMOs looking to have maximum impact in this space, whilst securing their professional careers, they should focus their attention on people – consumers and employees- to ensure that they’re making the right decisions to futureproof their businesses.  

Methodology 

McCann Worldgroup’s Truth About New Europe 2023 study was conducted by McCann Worldgroup Truth Central, the organisation’s global intelligence unit, this large-scale quantitative study surveyed more than 27,000 people in 18 countries across two waves (August 2018 and September 2022).  

Read more about our study here.  

Marina Specht is chief executive officer, McCann Worldgroup Spain