The Chief Marketing Officer at a big company has an impossible job – I’ve watched countless ones fold like a kmart lawn chair (another Rod-ism).

The typical duration of a CMO is 18 months; because once the CEO realizes that hype for money can’t solve their problems, they get restless. And that takes about 1.5 years.

The problem lies in what people think “marketing” is (PLEASE understand this).

Marketing isn’t paying for ads, changing the logo, driving leads, or building a social media presence.

Marketing is product design, customer service, pricing, customer delight, and creating & living a remarkable story by being different. Marketing is creating the conditions for the network effect.

And yet, the typical CMO isn’t in charge of ANY of those things. None. Zip. Zero.

No wonder it’s frustrating. You thought you were getting a marketer, but all you did was hire someone to make a commotion on social media and run shitty ads.

The words matter. If you are hiring someone to be in charge of promotion or sales, say so. But if you want someone to be in charge of marketing, have them be in charge of all of it.

Write this down: If it touches the market, it’s marketing.