Editorial
The Gist
- Experience spectrum. Even top-tier CMOs often lack specific industry experience but thrive by leveraging universal marketing principles.
- Adaptive leadership. Cross-industry skills and adaptive strategies are key for CMOs transitioning between different sectors.
- Insightful hiring. Focusing on a candidate's broader marketing prowess, rather than industry-specific experience, can yield more dynamic leadership.
We’ve all seen it. Those dreaded words: "must have prior experience in …" By the time CMO candidates reach the C-suite, do they really need to have previous experience in a specific industry to qualify — or even to make it to the interview stage?
Not everyone agrees. From hiring agencies to CEOs, there are a range of opinions on this subject, which means there isn’t one right answer. And that is good news for CMOs seeking marketing leadership roles.
Related Article: Preparing CMOs for the Next Decade of Marketing Leadership
Marketing Leadership: The Agency Perspective
Eric Pairitz, a principal at The Smart Department, a national staffing agency, believes it depends on the industry. He stated that many of the principles of marketing leadership apply to all industries and can be executed in a similar fashion, and that other factors such as core values and years of marketing experience should be taken into consideration.
“If you’re executing a strategy, it is important to know the fine details,” said Pairitz. “For example, the financial services industry requires knowledge of regulatory compliance, financial products and customer behavior. In a leadership role, I would be more interested in a candidate’s approach to strategy, management and past results.”
More common than not, Pairitz explained, he sees candidates being passed over due to the type of experience they had within an industry. He shared the example of a candidate with healthcare experience in an agency setting who did not get interviewed for a corporate healthcare position — and vice versa. In these cases, it was the type of work that was the deterrent.
Being Willing to Dig in and Learn
Sharon Glenn, director of content and communications at 6 Degrees Media, has over 25 years of experience and has worked for Toyota North America and Transamerica in marketing and branding roles. She shared that she has seen a lot of candidates at larger companies come and go quickly in marketing leadership positions. If one thing stuck out to her, it was the people who were willing to dig in and learn that were always the most successful.
For Some, Industry Experience Not Typically a Requirement
Sue Keith, corporate vice president of marketing talent solutions at Ceres Talent, said industry experience is not typically a requirement for senior-level marketing positions they fill. However, sector experience, she explained, is required for product marketing positions. This even holds true in highly technical industries, such as cybersecurity.
“While the cybersecurity industry typically requires sector experience, we recently placed a fractional CMO with a data encryption company who did not have direct cyber experience,” said Keith. “She was brought on to keep the trains running while the company conducted the search to backfill their marketing leader who had recently left. Our fractional CMO performed so well the CEO hired her for the full-time CMO role, despite her lack of industry experience.”
Related Article: Marketing Leadership Strategies: Lessons Learned in My First Year as CMO
The CMO Perspective
3 Requirements
The chief brand officer for Good Feet Worldwide and author of “Moving Your Brand Out Of The Friend Zone,” Doug Zarkin, outlines in his book that connecting brands and consumers well requires the same three things regardless of industry: understanding the target audience, crafting compelling narratives and leveraging innovative strategies to create meaningful connections.
“Reflecting on pivotal events in my career such as concepting and launching Mark by Avon or revitalizing Essilor Luxottica’s Pearle Vision brand, my ability to think outside the box and challenge conventional wisdom led to breakthroughs in brand positioning and consumer engagement,” said Zarkin.
“In each of those stops in my career journey, I had little to no category experience when I came on board. Having previous industry experience indeed has its benefits, as it provides valuable insights and a solid foundation in the specific dynamics of that industry. However, I've found throughout my career that the fundamental principles of marketing and brand building are transferrable across industries.”
5 Change Categories
The CMO of Tigo Energy in California, J.D. Dillon, has an interesting theory. He approaches it by the numbers stating that there are five change categories: company, industry, function, level and company size. CMOs can change a few categories at a time with success he explained.
“Changing one is easy, two will work, three is hard, and four is impossible,” Dillon said. “By that logic, a CMO hire does not have to have industry experience if that person is coming from a CMO role. Otherwise, he or she needs industry experience.”
His last job change was from the vice president of marketing and pricing at Enphase Energy to his current position. He believes the CEO was only open to giving him the title of CMO due to his prior experience inside the industry, despite the fact that he was performing the same function at a smaller company.
Dillon also shared he had a difficult time moving from vice president of customer operations at a storage company to vice president of marketing and pricing at an energy company even though the companies were the same size. Whereas he had an easier transition going from vice president of marketing for a semiconductor company to vice president of marketing and pricing at the storage company — same level position but at a much smaller company.
Filter Where You Want to Work
Gaurav Bhatia, CMO for PenFed Credit Union and board adviser for Spark Growth Ventures, has worked in an incredibly diverse set of industries, from travel to tech. He feels that no matter how different the industry was, the experience in that role helped him and now actually differentiates him from other candidates.
“The growth-oriented companies appreciated it while the companies who were very conservative did not,” said Bhatia. “It helped me filter where I want to work as well, which is a win-win.”
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That astute insight is something to remember. As a CMO candidate, you’ve typically been through the wringer, pulled all-nighters, taken risks and contributed to huge gains for companies. Do you even want to apply for positions where exclusions preclude your candidacy?
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