ANA / EffectiveBrands CMO Study to Focus on Organizing Marketing for Growth.

A joint study focusing on identifying how marketers can organize to support business growth will be launched by ANA (Association of National Advertisers) and EffectiveBrands during the first quarter 2013.

The study, “Marketing2020 – Organizing for Growth,” will leverage the insights and experience of many successful marketing leaders and include a broad ANA member online survey. It will be cross-industry and also include contributions by CMOs in Europe, Asia and Latin America, reflecting the global scope of today’s marketing organization and leaders.

“Marketers consistently ask ANA for insight on what is the right marketing organization for their company and welcome recommendations to help increase their contribution to growth,”said Bob Liodice, ANA President and CEO. “In today’s business environment, the topic of marketing’s role and how to best structure and build capability for that role has become even more important.”

The objective of Marketing2020 is to develop the strategic framework and practical guidelines for CMOs to define:

– The role of marketing in delivering business strategy
– The best way to structure the marketing department
– How to build capability and equip the marketing function for success
– How to emulate the leadership skills, competencies and behaviors of winning CMOs

“There is no shortage of advice to help marketers define what type of marketing programs to run. But, there is almost no expertise available for marketing leaders to determine how to best focus marketing strategy, structure and capabilities to contribute to business growth,” said Marc de Swaan Arons, Executive Chairman, EffectiveBrands.

Marketing2020 includes an Advisory Board comprised of top marketers and thought leaders:

– Keith Weed, Chair, Chief Marketing Officer – Unilever
– Antonio Lucio, Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Human Resources – VISA
– Beth Comstock, Chief Marketing Officer – GE
– Jon Iwata, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications – IBM

Additional subject matter expertise and resources will be contributed from key partners, including Spencer Stuart and Forbes.

“As marketers ready their brands to compete in a world of accelerating change from digital to big data, they must equally ready their organization’s capabilities and structure to be fit to win for twenty-first century marketing,” said Keith Weed, CMO of Unilever. “The impact of mobile technology will transform Marketing. For the first time, those who have their heads in the clouds will have the advantage because it’s where they’ll get the best view of the future.”