Good morning. Now there are some modern CFOs to view Marketing as a growth center Not the cost center. Yet despite this shift in mindset, marketing is still on the downfall of many companies, under pressure from trade tensions, economic uncertainty and cautious consumer spending.
New research from McKinsey Emphasize the evolving role of Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and see better alignment between CMO, CEO and CFO as key to finding new growth opportunities. However, achieving this route is easier said than done. When it is unclear about accountability for customers and everyone in C-Suite is responsible for growth, usually no one is really.
McKinsey’s Wealth Analysis 500 Executive teams based on public data reveal a persuasive trend: Companies with a single client or growth executive (such as CMO) grow 2.3 times faster than companies with multiple responsibilities.
However, appointing a CMO is not enough. McKinsey advises: “Turn CMOs back to center, keep them aligned with CFOs and keep everyone moving in the same direction.” Without clear ownership and support, even the most talented CMOs can’t reach their full potential.
Despite its strategic significance, marketing is often phased out. according to Spencer StuartThe percentage of CMO’s Fortune 500 companies fell from 71% in 2023 to 66% in 2024.
One challenge: CMOs often have difficulty clearly conveying the value and cost of marketing to their finances. McKinsey found that the most successful marketing organizations use complex systems and agreed to KPIs to demonstrate the financial impact of their investments. This data-driven method helps to obtain CFOs on board.
Retail is an increasingly obvious sector. Ulta Beauty CFO Paula Oyibo, e.g. Tell me recently The company’s partnership with Beyoncé’s Cécred hair care range is a natural financing, which shows how marketing and partnerships drive growth.
Similarly, Mandy Fields, Elf Beauty’s CFO, believes The power of collaboration Between finance and marketing. “Normally, finance treats marketing as expenses,” she told me. “We took a different approach to viewing marketing as a sales driver and proved useful to us.” Throughout 2024, Elf Beauty provided 28% of sales Grow Adjusted EBITDA increased by 26%.
Kory Marchisotto, Chief Marketing Officer, Elf Beauty, Tell me recently From day one, she met Fields: “We just know that no matter what happens around us, there is a general respect and admiration for each other’s profession.”
As McKinsey said, in order to achieve a successful growth strategy, C-Suite leaders must see marketing as a strategic function.
Have a wonderful weekend. See you on Monday.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Ranking list
Fortune 500 Powerful Mobile
Chris TurnerYum Chief Financial and Franchise Officer! Brand company (No. 491) Promoted to CEO, Turner since October 1 Will succeed Current CEO David Gibbs informed the board in March that he intends to retire after working for 37 years. Gibbs will serve as a consultant until the end of 2026. Turner joins Yum! The brand in 2019 is CFO. Last year, his position expanded to include Chief Charter Officer. Previously, Turner held senior positions at Pepsico, including senior vice president and general manager, and senior vice president of transformation at Pepsico Frito-Lay North America business.
Every Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Electricity Column Track 500 Company C-Suite Shifts Shifts–View the latest version.
More notable moves this week:
Marc D. Level Appointed as Senior Vice President and CFO Ciena Corporation (NYSE: CIEN) is a network software provider that takes effect on August 1. CIENA previously announced the August 28th James E. Moylan (Jr.), James E. Jr., who also served as Chief Financial Officer and COO of Intel’s Data Center and Artificial Intelligence Group, and held other executive finance roles in various manufacturing and business units of Intel.
Tim Karaca Promoted to Senior Vice President and CFO SolarwindsProvider of IT management software, effective from June 16. Karaca serves as the group vice president of Solarwinds’ strategic finance and investor relations. Prior to joining the company, he spent nearly two decades in senior finance positions in the technology industry and Wall Street. His leadership experience covers senior positions at AIG, Microsoft and Bridgewater Associates.
James CookCFO’s Sealy & CompanyIt is a real estate investment and service company that will officially retire after serving for 24 years on June 30. James Gilligan will take over as Cook on June 16, and Cock will take effect on June 16. Gilligan joined the company in April and brought an executive leadership background around real estate investment and private equity. He was previously the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Farmland Partners, and prior to that, he worked at Equity International and Equity Group Investments.
Alice Heathcote Appointed as Chief Financial Officer Origis Energyrenewable energy and decarbonized solution platforms, take effect immediately. Most recently, Heathcote served as CFO of Strata Clean Energy. Prior to this, she worked for seven years at Contourgobal, a global independent force producer. During her tenure, she held several leadership positions, including senior vice president of financing and acquisitions, where she led the Contourglobal IPO on the London Stock Exchange. She has also served as CFO of Renewable Teachers for nearly four years.
Paul Joachimczyk Has been appointed as CFO Sonoco Products Company (NYSE: Son) is a sustainable packaging provider that takes effect on June 30. Joachimczyk was formerly the senior vice president, CFO and company secretary of American Woodmark Corporation. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Finance at Topbuild Corp. and held financial leadership positions in Stanley Black & Decker and General Electric’s healthcare and capital markets divisions.
Kevin McKenzie Called CFO Ensora Healthsoftware and service providers. McKenzie joined Ensora Healthcare’s Ensora Healthcare, where he served as CEO and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to this, he held leadership positions at Simpleenxus, ProcessMap and AdvancedMD, where he led financial restructuring and operational integration for these SaaS companies.
event
The Kite Factory’s “AI Data Security and Compliance Risk Survey” found that AI governance in many companies is lagging behind. Only 17% of respondents said their companies could automatically prevent employees from uploading confidential data to public AI tools. Other 83% rely on human measures such as training, auditing, warning emails or guidelines, or do nothing at all, According to the report. At the same time, the study also found that employees often paste customer records, financial data and trade secrets into CHATGPT and similar AI services from personal devices that companies cannot even monitor.
These findings are based on surveys conducted at a frequency of 461 cybersecurity, IT, risk management and compliance professionals.
More in-depth
These are four wealth Weekend reading:
“Goldman Sachs says Trump’s spending plan won’t stop state debt from hitting “unsustainable” highs not seen since World War II“Greg McKenna
“A $6 billion logistics CEO credits the flavor of ice cream to him to help him understand why customers need new innovations“Amanda Gerut
“David Zaslav to get layoffs after Warner Bros finds splitChris Morris
“Experts say this is how much you need to walk to see the growth of fitness“Ani Freedman
Heard
“We see this autonomous chapter as one of the most important chapters in its history for Musk and Tesla.”
– A special invitation was sent from Tesla in Elon Musk early this morning to allow select Tesla users to license their use on Sunday’s model Y Robotaxi Service in Austin, an analyst at Wedbush Securities wrote in a Friday note.
