Post by Jason Radisson

When I asked Mike Linton why CMO hires go wrong, his answer was uncomfortable. Most boards and CEOs don't understand their customer well enough to articulate customer strategy. How could they, they’re not the demographic. So they can't define outcomes. So they default to hiring a channel specialist, "I need a Facebook person", or a board member’s buddy, instead of hiring for business results. Mike has been CMO of eBay, Best Buy, and Farmers Insurance. He's run billion-dollar budgets and minted more CMOs than an academy company. We've known each other 20+ years, and this CEO Tradecraft conversation got into the stuff that rarely makes it into polite company. A few things that stuck with me: 1. CMOs are like football players, they're not interchangeable. You may need an experience quarterback. You may need someone who's great at acquisition. Know the difference (and your customer strategy) before you write the spec. 2. The Cosmopolitan Problem: when you don't understand how customers experience your brand, you optimize the channels you can measure. You end up with a shot of vodka in a water glass, totally optimizing your Vodka ROI, and wonder why nobody's at your bar. 3. Decision rights matter more than title. Mike advises not to take a CMO role unless you control creative, media, hiring, and have a capital budget. A CMO owning the outcomes but not the levers is set up to fail. Big thanks to Mike for a fun and insightful conversation. Link to the full episode in comments. Enjoy! #CMO #MarketingLeadership #B2BMarketing

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