Starbucks is the latest company to eliminate the chief marketing officer role after promoting CMO Brady Brewer to CEO. This announcement coincides with a corporate restructuring, with regional marketing executives assuming key responsibilities reporting to regional CEOs.
“We are making significant progress on our two-pump, triple-shot transformation plan,” Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan said in an internal meeting (also shared on the brand's website). “To further accelerate progress in line with our goals, we have a clear geographic focus and a functional infrastructure to scale globally, generate productivity and reinvigorate our partner culture. We are recalibrating our organization to balance investment in capabilities.”
In his new role, Mr. Brewer will oversee teams in Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Japan and Latin America, including the firm's internationally licensed partners. The statement confirmed that Mr. Brewer's role would not be replaced and included a positive outlook for Mr. Narasimhan's future. “Throughout our history, we have focused not on who we are or what we represent, but on what we do, how we connect with our customers, and how we realize our long-term goals.” We have continued to reinvent things,” said Narasimhan. “Thanks to our partners and our strategic planning and world-class leadership team, Starbucks' best days are ahead of us.”
Death of the CMO?
While the CMO role will not be completely abolished, Starbucks' latest reorganization aligns with the global trend of eliminating executive roles. In 2022, Forbes published an article titled “The CMO role isn't dead, it's just undergoing transformation.” In it, the authors argue that this role is not dying out, but rather is “changing dramatically.” Other Fortune 500 companies that have recently abandoned the CMO role include United Postal Service, Etsy, and Uber.
One company that removed the CMO role and then reinstated it is Coca-Cola. In 2017, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Marcos de Quinto retired from his position after 28 years with the company. Koch has since eliminated that role entirely and replaced it with the role of chief growth officer (CGO). However, in 2019, the company reversed this decision and announced that Manolo Arroyo would take on the role of CMO.
Commenting on the decision, Coca-Cola Global CEO James Quincey said: “We know that consumer needs are changing more and more rapidly, and we are looking forward to seeing how companies respond.'' “It's important to be agile in how we adapt.” “[Arroyo’s] Dual leadership for operations and marketing is a new structure for the company and is expected to evolve in the coming months. [Arroyo’s] The focus ranges from developing work that can be used around the world to supporting local campaigns. ”
In 2022, Australian CMOs told AdNews that the death of a CMO was “more clickbait than expected”. But recent global decisions to abandon that role cannot be ignored. Only 36% of Fortune 500 companies have his CMO role, according to data from recruiting firm Spencer Stewart. It would be remiss not to note that in many companies, this role is simply being renamed, rather than disappearing. In some companies, that role will be chief growth officer, while in others it will be chief customer officer. In a fast-paced digital world where consumer needs change rapidly, it's worth noting the evolution of this particular executive role.
Also read about Coca-Cola bringing back the CMO role.
Photography by TR on Unsplash.
