Every few years, someone wheels out the same tired headline:
“The Death of the CMO.”
Usually followed by a smug LinkedIn post.
Usually written by someone who’s never built a brand under pressure.
Usually sponsored by fear.
Let’s be clear.
CMOs aren’t dying. Safe executives are.
When markets wobble, CEOs and CFOs do what they’ve always done when courage runs dry:
They optimise.
They trim.
They play not to lose.
And in that vacuum of nerve, experience steps forward.
Enter the Machiavellian CMO Brigade
The 50-something CMOs.
Battle-scarred. Brand-trained. Politically fluent.
The ones who came up when marketing actually had to work.
Not dashboard custodians.
Not funnel babysitters.
But architects of long-term growth.
These are the CMOs who don’t panic when performance marketing flat-lines — because they’ve seen this movie before.
They know what happens when the funnel runs dry.
👉 You don’t optimise your way out.
👉 You don’t A/B test your way to fame.
👉 You build memory structures.
👉 You invest in customer relationships.
👉 You play the long game when others lose their bottle.
While others reach for spreadsheets like comfort blankets, these CMOs reach for brand.
When the Board Loses Its Nerve, CMOs Hold the Line
The Confessions of a CMO report captures something most boardrooms still refuse to say out loud
Marketing leadership didn’t disappear. It evolved.
The smartest CMOs didn’t shout louder — they adapted faster.
They became:
- Mutiny Officers (when disruption was required)
- Missing Officers (when brand had to move invisibly)
- Meaning Officers (when strategy lost its soul)
Not because branding became less important —
but because it became more dangerous to do badly.
These CMOs understand the real threat isn’t risk.
Sameness is.
And when the CFO says “let’s wait”, the seasoned CMO hears “let’s decay quietly.”
Performance Marketing Didn’t Kill Growth. Short-Termism Did.
Let’s address the elephant in the attribution model.
Yes, younger CMOs who grew up on performance marketing still have a role.
Yes, efficiency matters.
Yes, data matters.
But when performance becomes the strategy, growth dies slowly and expensively.
Performance marketing is a lever —
not a growth engine.
And when it stops delivering incremental returns, you find out very quickly who understands:
- Demand creation vs demand capture
- Brand vs activation
- Growth vs activity
This is where the old guard quietly smile — and go back to first principles.
Back to the Masters (When Things Get Hard)
When markets tighten, guess who CMOs don’t turn to?
- Another martech vendor
- Another AI promise deck
- Another attribution workaround
They turn to the grown-ups:
- Binet & Field
- Rory Sutherland
- Mark Ritson
- Simon Sinek
Because human behaviour hasn’t changed — only the noise around it has.
Brand still drives preference.
Emotion still drives memory.
Consistency still beats cleverness.
And courage still beats caution.
Can’t Afford a Full-Time CMO? That’s the Point.
This is the moment where some CEOs nod along…
…and then quietly think:
“Sounds great — but we can’t justify a full-time, experienced CMO.”
Good.
Because that’s exactly where Fractional CMOs come into their own.
You don’t need the cost, politics, or permanence of a full-time appointment.
You need a slice of strategic rigour.
A Fractional CMO gives you:
- Board-level challenge without internal threat
- Long-term brand thinking without short-term panic
- Strategic clarity that upskills your marketing team and your board
- Someone who’s held their nerve before — and will again
It’s not about outsourcing marketing.
It’s about importing judgement.
Sound tempting?
Let’s Chat
Tell me what’s really keeping you awake at night — the thing that’s quietly choking growth while everyone debates tactics
Then we’ll talk.
CMO vs CEO Language: A Fun Takeaway..
Before you go, I’ve put together a light-hearted handout for the boardroom.
CMO vs CEO language.
A translator.
A defence mechanism.
A game of bullshit bingo for moments when strategy meetings drift into safety theatre.
👉 Download it.
Enjoy it. Weaponise it.
Because sometimes growth doesn’t need another framework —
it needs someone brave enough to call nonsense.