The role of the chief marketing officer (CMO) in today’s modern marketing world is to be the strategic rudder of brands, nurturing and directing the creative and innovative power of the team and agencies to continue the upward trajectory of the brand.
There is a temptation for new brand and marketing managers to bring new thinking, new strategies, new platforms and ultimately, make their personal mark on a brand.
Yet the strongest brands we know have been built over time. They exhibit a dedication to evolving and elevating, while remaining unchanged in the way they connect with culture, customers and consumers over time.
While trends come and go, the way in which brands respond should remain in the same tone and with the same enduring purpose.
Nurture the brand
As brand leaders, particularly in brands that reflect and shape culture, it is our responsibility in our tenure to nurture the brand on its forward journey without changing its course.
With this tension for our teams to create a mark on the brand while remaining true to the brand DNA, the role of the CMO should be to harness the excitement and drive of the talent while directing this energy to make what the brand already does… but better.
As the key drivers of consistency, the expectation from agency partners is to hold the golden principles of the brand, even on new touch-points.
Strong agency partners
Creatives and strategic teams need to be brought on the journey with clearly defined guardrails and then be inspire to evolve and elevate the brand’s execution.
And with strong agency partners, the CMO should lay the challenge to ensure the collaborative efforts increase the impact and scale of the campaigns to make them work even harder for the brand.
In ABInBev, Carling Black Label is considered a ‘megabrand’ and its success story has been built on ‘mega consistency’. its key pillars have remained unchanged over the last 10 years, despite three brand directors over time.
The focus has been to refresh and evolve the pillars, so they continue to successfully engage our consumers in today’s world.
~ Kerryn Greenleaf is chief marketing officer of Carling Black Label
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