By Emily Jacobs
The marketing effectiveness of companies is being affected by a disparity between chief marketing officers (CMOs) and chief information officers (CIOs), a new study has revealed.
The study, conducted by Accenture, surveyed 400 senior marketing and 250 information technology (IT) executives in 10 countries, revealing that only one in 10 believe collaboration between CMOs and CIOs is currently at the right level.
The CMO-CIO Disconnect report showed that CIOs appear to be more committed to collaboration than CMOs.
Seventy-seven per cent of CIOs thought that alignment is important, compared to 57 per cent of CMOs. However, only 45 per cent of CIOs say that bridging the gap is high on their priorities.
Brian Whipple, global managing director of Accenture Interactive says the need to close the gap is pressing.
“The CMO and CIO continue to work in silos, but now more than ever bridging the gap between those two organisations is critical for success,” he said.
“With today’s multichannel consumer seeking highly relevant experiences and with digital and analytics platforms emerging to help companies respond, marketing and IT executives must work more closely together.”
According to the study, this disconnect revolves around the motivations for collaboration.
For CMOs, gaining customer insight is their greatest motivator, while CIOs rank it as tenth most important.
Instead, CIOs believe collaboration is needed to improve the customer experience; something CMOs rank third.
The disagreement is also evident in the levels of satisfaction for both parties.
Thirty-six per cent of CMOs say IT products fall short of expectations while 46 per cent of CIOs say marketing isn’t detailed enough to meet requirements.
Despite the issues raised by the survey, there has been a positive shift.
Forty-five per cent of marketing executives and 47 per cent of IT executives believe their relationship has improved over the last 12 months.
Furthermore, an equal amount of CMOs and CIOs (41 per cent and 42 per cent respectively) believe an increase in collaboration will be needed for enhanced customer experiences.
“The good news is that CMOs and CIOs agree technology is important,” said Whipple.
“Now they must work together to agree on how technology can be most appropriately applied to drive their company’s specific marketing needs, and how it can ultimately result in increased brand affinity, loyalty and sales.”
The report identified three main actions to improve collaboration:
- The CMO identified as the chief experience officer and IT should be looked at as a strategic partner, not just as a platform provider.
- Skills should be mixed between the two departments – the marketing department would become more tech savvy and the IT team would become more responsive to market demands.
- Both teams should agree on key business levers and embrace tools, processes and platforms to make consumer relations more effective.
