How drastically has the role of a CMO changed in the last 5 years?

The role of the CMO has changed a lot due to the increasing importance of digital marketing and the importance of users of smart phones as an audiance. With a smart phone a customer can vew a product compare prices of dealers and even make an actual purchase in moments. The CMO has to keep this media in media in mind though he cannot ignore the traditional media. 

Hello Sidrah ... Well, as a matter of fact every aspect of life had changed and evoloved during the past five years. But as far as CMOs are concerned the following points came into surface :

--  Social Media had affected the role of CMOs very much. It became a "MUST" channel for communication.

--  The sophesticated and evolving tastes and preferences of customers (Hearing the voice of customers 24/7)

--  CMO had faced new methods of distribution ( the 3rd. "P" of marketing mix ).

--  The changing way of customers in searching, researching and buying service or product.

--  More into preserving and enhancing corporate reputation and image in an evolving competition.

--  The dramatic change in customer-base : Turning from local to global.

--  Nowa days CMOs need stronger analytical qualities, being more creative and having long-term strategy.

The role of a CMO has grown deeper with the passage of time in following areas.

Channel Management

Reporting Gurus

Marketing Tool experts

Creative design and development

Planning Acquisition marketing strategies and many more other related tasks...

The role of CMO is bigger now due to change of the different way of selling. Today it's more about solving customer problems rather than selling new features. CMO's are now more focused on understanding customers and their needs.

The following are six new or evolving roles that forward-thinking CMOs will fill ;

1. Customer Experience Czar

Customer experience has been a boardroom buzzword for months. But in 2015 it will become a corporate strategic priority—one that deserves a dedicated marketing executive. “If done well, this executive could be the strategic influencer on a company’s overarching market strategy and positioning,” said Kurt Andersen, CMO of SAVO, a manufacturer of sales software. 

2. Content Conductor

Content marketing is hot. And marketing organizations are creating and collecting more content than ever before.

3. Sales Enabler 

U.S. companies invest almost $900 billion annually in their sales forces, according to Frank V. Cespedes, senior lecturer at Harvard Business School and author of “Aligning Strategy and Sales.” That’s more than three times the amount they spend on all media advertising, and 20 times more than the total spent on digital marketing. Yet companies deliver only about 50 to 60 percent of the financial performance their sales strategies promise, Cespedes told CMO.com.

4. Chief Marketing Technologist

Sure, most marketing groups have a head of CRM or a director of digital marketing. But what they’ve needed for some time is a dedicated technologist-in-chief. 

5. Marketing Thought Leader

Marketing is a part of the strategic fabric of the corporation today. As such, the marketing organization must manage not only media and messaging, but also ideas and insight. With the day-to-day tactical demands on the marketing group increasing by the day, however, how do you drive innovation in the marketing organization? 

6. Utility Player

This isn’t a single new role, but an emerging requirement for everyone on the marketing team. 

CMOs should identify their high potential employees and create clear development plans for them. That said, CMOs will still need specialists. But everyone “plays zone, not man-to-man. Every team member must understand and be capable of participating in every area of marketing,” 

 “More and more CMOs are being asked to do with more, and that means our teams must be more capable.” 

As pressures grow on the need for steady top-line growth and profit growth, the roles of CMOs have become more strategic, action oriented end greater use of performance metrics and measures. These involve the discovery of data-driven insights to drive stakeholder relationship, becoming change agents to  manage change effectively and design the right strategies and processes to drive business sustainability.

Generally with the stream of digitalization.A transition from orthodox practices.

Thanks for inviting me , while i agree with Dr. Samrat answer

Few senior-executive positions will be subject to as much change over the next few years as that of the chief marketing officer. Many CEOs and boards may think that their senior marketers’ hands are already full managing the rise of new media, the growing number of sales and service touch points, and the fragmentation of customer segments.

However, as the forces of marketing proliferation gather strength, what is actually required is a broadening of the CMO’s role. This expansion will encompass both a redefinition of the way the marketing function performs its critical tasks and the CMO’s assumption of a larger role as the “voice of the customer” across the company as it responds to significant changes in the marketplace.

Distinctive answers to the experts

And I agree with Mr.

Subhranshu Ganguly

thanks for the invitation