The most consequential shift in CMO expectations over the past five years has been the move from marketing as a cost centre — justified by brand health metrics and awareness scores — to marketing as a commercial engine with direct accountability for revenue growth. Boards and CEOs now expect CMOs to own customer acquisition economics, retention metrics and the commercial return on marketing investment. This has fundamentally changed the profile of candidates who can succeed in the role.

Digital transformation has accelerated this shift. The CMO who cannot engage credibly with data infrastructure, attribution modelling, personalisation at scale and the commercial implications of AI in customer experience is increasingly vulnerable — regardless of their brand or creative credentials. The reverse is equally true: the performance marketer who has never built a brand with genuine long-term equity frequently fails when the organisation needs to operate through a cycle where performance channels stop delivering at the required cost.

The Tension Between Brand and Performance

One of the most common brief errors in CMO search is an insufficient distinction between brand marketing leadership and performance marketing leadership. They require related but distinct capabilities, and conflating them produces candidates who are strong in one domain and exposed in the other. We help clients think through what their business actually needs — at this stage, in this market — before the search begins.

CMO in B2B and Professional Services

B2B and professional services marketing has distinct requirements that are frequently underestimated in CMO searches. Content strategy, thought leadership positioning, account-based marketing and the management of long, complex sales cycles require a different toolkit from consumer brand marketing. We maintain specific networks in B2B marketing leadership across financial services, professional services and technology sectors.

Roles we place: Chief Marketing Officer · Chief Revenue Officer · Chief Customer Officer · Chief Growth Officer · VP Marketing · Head of Brand · Head of Digital & Performance Marketing · Head of Customer Experience · Head of Product Marketing