The Modern CMO’s Expanding Strategy |
There’s no such thing as a standard CMO job anymore. Responsibilities, procedures and even titles vary among companies. And while few firms—especially those with consumer brands—are operating without someone in charge of their marketing functions, there are many without a person holding the title of CMO. There are chief growth officers, chief brand officers, chief strategy officers, and chief marketing-and-something-else officers.
Verizon Business, the telecom company’s division providing services for enterprise customers, chose to modify its CMO role in 2024. Iris Meijer, its CMO at the time, became the chief product and marketing officer—a nod to the company’s desire to combine the products it develops and the customers it serves. I talked to Meijer about this blended role—one in which she gained not just new mandates but a new team—and how she’s used it to bring a fresh focus to how the company creates and sells products. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter.
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The World Cup is a global phenomenon, with millions of soccer fans gathering to cheer on their national teams—both watching the games on television and traveling to see them in person. But some U.S. cities hosting this summer’s World Cup—which is spread across the U.S., Canada and Mexico—have reported lackluster demand for hotel rooms thus far. Forbes’ Suzanne Rowan Kelleher writes that hotel associations in New York City, Philadelphia and San Francisco have yet to see a surge in reservations for the tournament. In fact, hotel bookings in New York this June are nearly the same as they were a year ago. In recent weeks, FIFA has cancelled tens of thousands of hotel rooms in host cities for the tournament.
Last year, FIFA predicted that the tournament would deliver a $30.5 billion economic boost to the U.S., but it looks like the reality will be much less. The World Cup has not historically been a revenue driver in the U.S. In 1994, the last time the tournament was held here, an economic boost of $4 billion was predicted. Instead, one analysis found that the tournament actually caused host cities to lose a total of $9.26 billion.
Thirty-two years ago, however, the world was much less chaotic. President Donald Trump’s crackdown on foreign visitors, new tariffs, and geopolitical issues including the war in Iran have raised concerns that international tourists would not want to come to the U.S. In February, Rowan Kelleher writes, most international air travel bookings to the U.S. were down compared to 2025—5% less from Europe and 3.6% fewer from Asia. Bookings from South America were essentially flat.
There are still about two months until the tournament officially kicks off, so there is plenty of time for soccer fans worldwide to plan their trips to the U.S.—or for those already in the country to plan trips to the cities hosting games. But cities would be smart to also highlight other things happening this summer to attract tourists. After all, the nation’s 250th birthday falls in the middle of the tournament.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Every marketer knows by now that they need to optimize their web content for generative AI chatbots, as potential customers increasingly use AI to do research on brands and products. And while some consumer brands have successfully navigated that shift, most B2B brands have not. A new study by the 2X AI Innovation Lab—the research and AI development arm of the B2B go-to-market company—found that about 96% of B2B companies are essentially invisible as customers begin their AI-guided commerce journey.
The study found that many B2B companies have a brand-product paradox, in which individual products show up in an AI search, but not the corporate name. The company names often surface later in the research, after many questions about the category and solutions have already been answered—a pattern 2X called an “invested discovery funnel.”
In order to improve on these results, 2X recommended B2B companies work to build authority online. This can be achieved on a company’s own website by improving the site architecture and content—especially through thought leadership content. More third-party reviews and curating discussions on social media forums also help build visibility. Optimization does not always go hand in hand with technical superiority; the study found relatively small companies that had solid authority throughout their online content tended to surface often through AI, while some larger companies were often passed over by chatbots.
Prices for just about everything are going up, and YouTube is now getting in on that trend. Last week, the streaming service announced the first price hike since 2023 for its ad-free and reduced ad subscriptions, with monthly costs increasing by as much as $4. Users who do not subscribe to YouTube Premium are often shown ads—and some using the streamer’s TV app have recently complained about unskippable ads that are up to 90 seconds long. In a post on X, YouTube says it does not have unskippable ads that long, though several social media posts have claimed differently.
Finding Success As The CMO Role Is Rewritten
Just over two years ago, Iris Meijer, then CMO at Verizon Business, got a new title and responsibilities. She became the first ever chief product and marketing officer of the enterprise arm of the telecommunications giant, and was put in charge of a more unified approach to developing and promoting new products.
I talked to Meijer about her role at the company, and how marketing and product functions fit together. This conversation has been edited for length, clarity and continuity.
After years of being on the marketing side, what did you see and learn when you also became chief product officer?
Meijer: What I quickly saw is that the product function was still quite technically oriented, which makes a lot of sense. But what comes out of that is you don’t necessarily have the customer at the front when you start thinking about products. For me, that was natural because marketeers, we know the customer, but also we are the custodian of the customer. It was easy for me to start bringing the customer voice to the product organization.
Often [in the] product management function, the way you measure success is different [than] how my marketing team measures success. We were able to unify the metrics. I was able to bring into the product function a more commercial mindset, looking at the product P&L.
It goes the other way around. When you are leading marketing, you’re not always close to product. It was nice to see how my marketing people got much closer to the product, got more comfortable with product. We were able to have joint priorities, which is absolutely critical for success in a company.
What have you been able to do through this partnership that leveraged the expertise of marketing and product?
We have this product, Verizon Business Internet, we launched before the two teams came together. The product is excellent, our customers love it, but we didn’t get traction.
We brought the teams together and started to analyze: What are the friction points and where are we failing? And they looked at the go-to-market: Is the sales [team] actually able to sell the value proposition? Is the compensation aligned? We started to look at not just the customer journey, but also the sales rep employee journey.
The teams worked together and made some enhancements based on customer feedback. And it’s the best product that we have at the moment [to add] to our wireless or fixed wireless access plans.
What advice do you have for a CMO who is starting to get product responsibilities?
Focus on P&L, the commercial enterprise leadership. Whether it’s product or a different function, when you have the foundation, it’s very easy to combine different teams because you look at the whole enterprise’s strategic direction.
When you bring separate teams together, ensure that you truly merge the processes— otherwise the teams continue to be siloed, and one plus one is not two.
At the end of the day, it’s about people. No matter what strategic direction or idea you have, if you don’t get your team behind you, it won’t work. Getting the team energized and excited around the shared mission is the ultimate thing for success.
Entertainment and live event technology provider Production Resource Group appointed Darren Pfeffer as its new chief commercial officer, effective April 13. Pfeffer joins the company from Diversified Production Services where he worked as president, and he fills a newly created role for the firm.
Ecommerce acceleration platform Pattern selected Chris Baird as its new chief marketing officer, effective April 6. Baird most recently worked in the same role at Weave, as well as ObservePoint prior to that.
Intelligent CX platform Five9 hired Jay Lee as its new chief marketing and growth officer, effective April 6. Lee joins the company from Icertis where he served as chief marketing officer, and he steps into a newly created role for the firm.
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