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On the surface, this cartoon last week from Tom Fishburne<\/a>, the talented Marketoonist, seems to be poking fun at the different \u201cchief\u201d titles that marketers and marketing-ish executives use.<\/p>\n Ha ha, us mad marketing people and our zany titles du jour<\/em>.<\/p>\n But my reaction was: this is exactly why marketing is so challenging today<\/strong>.<\/p>\n No, the challenge isn\u2019t sorting out which title to use. (Although what we call something does impact the way it\u2019s framed in people\u2019s minds \u2014 not an insignificant effect to consider. Words matter.)<\/p>\n The real challenge is that everything Tom listed in his strip is, indeed, what we now consider the responsibility \u2014 officially or unofficially \u2014 of marketing leadership:<\/p>\n Seriously, that\u2019s a jaw-dropping range of capabilities and responsibilities.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s not even taking into consideration how<\/em> we accomplish these objectives \u2014 which gets us into the rapidly growing discipline of marketing operations and technology. (See The New Rules of Marketing Technology & Operations<\/strong><\/a> for an appreciation of the vast scope of just that mission alone.)<\/p>\n Now, I\u2019m not saying we shouldn\u2019t<\/em> embrace this expansion. Businesses need to address these challenges \u2014 and they need to address them in an integrative way. It\u2019s systems dynamics, and it\u2019s hard. But it\u2019s also thrilling and bursting with opportunity to build a better business.<\/p>\n The CMO \u2014 by whatever title we assign him or her \u2014 is probably the person best poised to champion this opportunity in most organizations. And I\u2019ve met a ton of talented and energetic marketing leaders who are eager to rise to the task.<\/p>\n But we have to acknowledge that, as fast as we\u2019re running, the field we must cross is widening even faster:<\/p>\n That\u2019s not necessarily a bad thing. The optimistic view is that there\u2019s limitless professional development in this field, and there\u2019s always a way to outinnovate your competition<\/a>. You just have to make peace with the fact that there\u2019s no finish line.<\/p>\n P.S. Want to get a vitamin boost on the marketing technology and operations part of this mission? Check out the 75 presentations that we\u2019ll have at MarTech<\/strong> conference<\/a> in Boston next month, September 16-18.<\/p>\n\n
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