421: Important Findings from the CMO Survey with Christine Moorman, Sr. Professor of Business Administration at Duke University

Marketing Today with Alan Hart

Christine Moorman is the T. Austin Finch Senior Professor of Business Administration at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, where her research explores how consumers, managers, organizations, and financial markets learn about and use marketing knowledge. Christine tells us she didn't set out to become a professor, but through the encouragement of her mentors, she came to see it was the best path for her to pursue. After she received her Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Political Science from Northern Kentucky University, she immediately went on to the University of Pittsburgh, where she got her Ph.D. and MBA in Marketing.

In 2008, Christine saw the need for something in her field that would provide benchmarks and elevate the voice of marketers. This led her to found The CMO Survey, which she manages to this day, which gathers and shares insights from marketing leaders to forecast market trends, measure marketing excellence, and enhance marketing's impact on organizations and society.

On the show today, Alan and Christine talk about some of the key findings of the survey, including how budgets are moving, the percentage of revenue for marketing spent at different kinds of companies, and the percent of sales versus the percent of the overall budget. They also discuss the types of metrics marketers are tracking and what implications those choices have for being able to communicate the value of marketing. This leads them into a conversation about the rise of technology and martech spending, as well as some important findings around the utilization of these tools and what could be causing gaps in anticipated value. The ROI question continues as Christine outlines her findings on trends of decreased DEI spend and ways companies could address the effectiveness of important DEI efforts.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• Top-level trends in marketing spend and percentage of revenue allocated
• What metrics best communicate marketing value?
• Why DEI investments are decreasing and how we can increase the efficiency of spend

Key Highlights:

• [02:24] Becoming a “cracker-jack” event ticket salesperson
• [05:45] Why Christine became a professor
• [06:50] Why start the CMO Survey?
• [07:35] Where is the budget going? Top-level trends around spending
• [10:35] Marketers ability to communicate value
• [15:45] Martech challenges and how they're impacting marketing efforts
• [19:20] Experiences with failed CRM implementations
• [22:20] Why has DEI spending dropped?
• [28:30] Trends Alan has seen through these interviews
• [30:30] An experience of her past that defines who she is today: mentorship
• [34:10] Advice to her younger self: worry less and believe more.
• [34:40] Learning how to ask better questions and interrogate theories
• [38:30] Trends to watch: marketing for a better world and a base of disciplinary training
• [40:50] A big opportunity: cross-industry idea sharing

Looking for more?

Visit our website for the full show notes, links to resources mentioned in this episode, and ways to connect with the guest!

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