"Here comes the marketing person, they always want to do too much, too fast,” echoed a CMO from a multi-billion dollar software company. Offered as a warning for other CMOs when seeking to collaborate with their peers, my mind was spinning on the real issues here.

Of Course, CMOs Want to Get a Lot Done Quickly

The clock is ticking even before they start. That’s why many B2B CMOs have to present a 30/60/90-day plan just to secure a job. Inherent in this frequent (and annoying) request is an expectation of having an immediate impact. If CMOs were being asked for a 3-year plan, then their push for quick impact could and would happily shift. But I don’t see that happening, do you?

CEOs Expect CMOs to Be Instant Miracle Workers

I’ve written about this before but it’s worth revisiting in this context. The biggest mismatch in expectations between the CMO and the CEO is the time frame for meaningful impact. CEOs, particularly at PE/VC-backed companies, think in terms of quarterly not annual impact. This is so misguided as to almost be laughable. Reputations are built impression by impression, experience by experience, quarter after quarter. Sure, one brand, Chat GPT, reached 100 million users in 2 months. It was revolutionary. And free. Name another.

But What About the Fail-Fast Mentality Prescribed by Zuckerberg and Bezos?

Let’s separate tactics from strategy. Getting your overall business strategy right takes time. It’s not a marketing problem. It’s a company problem. Sure the CMO can help drive strategy, bringing together product, sales, customer service, finance, research, and HR to unite around a single vision. Great business strategies are enduring and require solid foundations. Weak strategies are disposable. If you want to fail fast and forever, go with the latter.

Speaking of Bezos, I’m currently listening to “Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and the Washington Post” by former Post editor Martin Baron. I’ve particularly enjoyed the parts on Bezos and how he approached transforming an old media stalwart into a digital-first publication. Before he started brainstorming on “fast fail” tactics, he worked with the executive team to define the vision. Notably, Bezos insisted on putting the customer (i.e. the reader, not the advertiser) at the center of the transformation. For several years after, the publication enjoyed extraordinary growth against a singular purpose - engage readers.

Great Strategies Drive Better Experiments

Ultimately, the goal is not to fail fast. The goal is to succeed fast. Doing that is much easier if you're working from a strong strategic foundation. There are always things to test. And no shortage of ideas. What CMOs need are filters to help sort the possible from the probable, the deluting from the additive. For example, if you’re putting the customer at the center of your brand, then simply asking, “Is this initiative good for our customer?” will filter out a lot of testable ideas.

Are You Trying to Do Too Much?

They surest way to fail in any job is to try to do too much at any even given time. For CMOs, the “peanut butter” effect is always a risk. Too many targets, too many campaigns, too many tech initiatives, too many product launches, and or too many events can assure minimal impact and maximum burnout. Too many priorities mean no priorities.

Written by Drew Neisser