CMO Q&A: What's the most challenging part of being a CMO today?

In each issue of Franchise Update magazine, we profile franchise CMOs and marketing leaders, asking each the same set of questions. Throughout the year, we’ll be selecting one of those questions and providing answers from recent CMO profiles. If you like what they say and are curious to learn more about these franchise marketing leaders and their thoughts on other topics, we’ve provided links to their full profile where available.

This week we asked them, What is the most challenging part of being a CMO today?

Michelle Spohnholz, Vice President of Marketing, Newk’s Eatery
There is a tremendous amount of market fragmentation between consumers and their unique needs. It’s a very competitive landscape in foodservice as well with convenience stores, movie theatres, grocery stores and restaurants all competing for share of wallet. Developing an authentic relationship with consumers as a brand in this environment can be a huge challenge, and motivating our hourly partners to deliver a best in class experience is also an important endeavor as well. Navigating to simple, clear strategies that work amidst all this is no easy task!

Michael Barrette, Chief Marketing & Sales Officer, Dippin’ Dots & Doc Popcorn
CMOs need to continuously learn and understand how their core consumer lives in the context of how they interact with media and entertainment. It’s the only way brands can effectively tap into their consumers’ everyday life. At Dippin’ Dots for example, our core demo is 8 to 18. This age group lives on their smart devices, so we must constantly consider and adapt to the platforms and experiences they expect. CMOs need to constantly sharpen the saw and be very knowledgeable of these changes and consumer expectations. I try to do that by surrounding myself with key internal team members and agency partners who can assist with this ongoing education. Read the full profile here.

Claudia Schaefer, Chief Marketing Officer, Jamba
One of today’s challenges as a CMO is being able to find the perfect balance and methodology in driving sales and transactions for the short term, while revolutionizing the brand for the long term. Read the full profile here.

Lisa Zoellner, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, Neighborly
The unprecedented breadth and rate of change in consumer expectations and the explosion of options for reaching them makes marketing more complex and exciting than ever. Leveraging technology and data to tell our brand story in a way that is relevant to our target consumer is an amazing opportunity. We began that journey a few years ago, and I know that many of my CMO colleagues are experiencing the joy and pain of that experience. Doing this across so many brands in multiple service verticals that are at different stages of brand development is challenging and fun. Read the full profile here.