Almost 95% of CMOs believe that their company should take the lead in resolving the major societal issues, claims Gartner.
Lately, there have been certain misalignments between consumer expectations of B2B brands against the strategic actions companies have taken. As a result, most marketing leaders now focused on solving cultural and societal issues amid the rapid digitization – to connect with consumers on a deeper level.
Gartner has recently surveyed more than 380 CMOs and senior marketing leaders to understand the strategic priorities across businesses worldwide. The study titled “CMO Strategic Priorities Survey 2020-2021: Ambitions Threatened by Capacity, Capital and Capability”, focuses on the business action plans that organizations are taking to demonstrate a secure commitment towards societal change.
Certainly, CMOs play a unique part in facilitating their companies to understand and respond to cultural, societal, as well as political trends.
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The study revealed that nearly 44% of consumers said their highest expectations are to ensure their company policies and practices should align with a cause. However, only 37% of the marketing leaders are actively working to achieve that action plan.
Given the current market scenario, about 24% of consumers want the top two priorities for brands to be centered on donating money to social causes. In its essence, some 46% of CMOs indicated donations as their top action taken.
As Jay Wilson, VP analyst at Gartner Marketing practice, explains – “As a result, marketing has taken on the responsibility of using the brand’s platform to build awareness of societal issues and communicate support for movements. However, there is some misalignment of consumer expectations of brands and the actions they report having taken.”
This will eventually motivate marketers and help brands to align with what modern-age, tech-savvy consumers want. In order to successfully lead companies to elucidate key societal concerns, Gartner recommends CMOs consider the following:
- Spearhead determinations can ensure company practices and policies reflect the ideals of the consumers, especially when it is related to equity, diversity, and inclusion.
- Taking a leadership role and implementing a process to monitor and engage with societal issues is crucial. A managerial decision criterion is necessary to ensure defensible, consistent decision making.
- It is also important to understand the risks as well as the benefits of taking a stand on such issues. Having a solid grasp of a crisis management plan and brand values is highly recommended, prior to taking a stand on political or societal issues.
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Experts believe CMOs will require reviewing their priorities in order to sustain in these unprecedented times. Since every action comes with associated risks, it is more in the case of an increasingly polarized technology-centered society. Still, such risks are usually offset by having fulfilled or furthered the purpose of brands.
