Latest / The CMO Podcast with Fexingo: Marketing Leadership, Budgets, and Executive Strategy / Why CMOs Are Betting on Chief Brand Officers
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, you know that moment when you walk into Lululemon and it doesn't feel like a store — it feels like a community center crossed with a yoga studio? That's not an accident. That's the work of the Chief Brand Officer. Luna: I was just about to bring them up. Lululemon appointed a Chief Brand Officer in 2022, and since then their brand perception scores have jumped something like 12 points. Lucas: Twelve points is huge. And they're not alone. Equinox, Airbnb, even Procter & Gamble have created this role. A McKinsey survey from last year found that 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies now have a Chief Brand Officer — or CBO — in the C-suite. Luna: That stat stopped me cold. Forty percent. So this is not a fringe thing. But I keep wondering: what does a CBO do that a CMO doesn't? Aren't they basically the same? Lucas: That's the million-dollar question. In theory, the CMO owns demand generation — performance marketing, campaigns, pipeline. The CBO owns the brand itself: identity, reputation, customer experience across every touchpoint. In practice, it gets messy fast. Luna: Yeah, I can see turf wars brewing. Who owns the website? Who owns social media? Who owns the customer conference? Lucas: Exactly. And if today was actually useful to you, the way these episodes stay ad-free is listener support — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: And honestly, it helps us keep digging into these structural questions that a lot of marketers are wrestling with right now. Lucas: So back to the CBO. The key insight from companies that make it work is that the CBO doesn't just guard the logo — they own a P&L. They're measured on brand health metrics: awareness, consideration, net promoter score, share of voice. That gives them real authority. Luna: But doesn't the CMO already own brand health? At most companies, the CMO is responsible for brand tracking surveys and ad recall. Lucas: They do, but it's usually a side responsibility. The CMO's real boss is the quarterly revenue number. So when times get tight, brand spend gets cut first. The CBO is supposed to protect that investment. Think of it as a checks and balances system. Luna: I get that. But I've also seen roles like 'Chief Experience Officer' that sound great on paper but just add bureaucracy. How do we know CBO is different? Lucas: Fair point. Let's look at Airbnb. In 2024, they did a major brand refresh — new logo, new messaging, redesigned app. They credited their CBO with keeping the entire project on a single brand narrative across product, marketing, and customer service. That's the kind of orchestration a CMO alone might struggle with. Luna: Because the CMO is also worried about booking volume for Q3. I see that. Lucas: Right. And here's a number that struck me from Forrester: companies with a dedicated CBO report 15 percent higher customer retention. That's significant. It suggests the role actually improves the customer experience, not just the logo. Luna: Fifteen percent — that's real. But I wonder if that's correlation or causation. Maybe companies that care enough to appoint a CBO also invest more in customer experience overall. Lucas: Possible. But there's a logic to it. When one person is accountable for the entire brand experience, they're more likely to spot friction points. For example, if the product team changes a feature but the marketing team doesn't update the website — the CBO catches that. Luna: So it's about breaking down silos. I've seen that firsthand. At a former company, our brand messaging on social was completely different from what the sales team was saying in meetings. Customers noticed. Luna: What about companies that can't afford a whole new C-suite role? A mid-size business with a $10 million marketing budget probably can't hire a CBO. Lucas: True. But they can assign brand health to a senior director with a dotted line to the CEO. The principle matters more than the title. The question is: who in your organization wakes up every morning thinking about the brand, not just the campaign? Luna: Okay, so if I'm a CMO listening to this, and my CEO says, 'We need a CBO' — should I feel threatened? Lucas: I'd say no — if it's done right. The best setups I've seen have the CMO and CBO as peers who collaborate closely. The CMO handles the short-term revenue engine; the CBO protects the long-term brand asset. They need each other. Luna: But I can imagine a scenario where the CEO hires a CBO because they don't trust the CMO to think beyond the next campaign. Lucas: That happens. And in that case, it's a signal that the CMO needs to evolve. But the trend is clear: brand is too important to be a side hustle for the CMO. Companies are formalizing it. And I think that's healthy. Luna: So for our listeners — marketing leaders — what's your advice? Should they advocate for a CBO, or should they try to absorb brand into their own role? Lucas: If you're the CMO, I'd say: be the one to propose the CBO. Show your CEO that you understand the need. Frame it as a way to double down on brand without sacrificing performance. That positions you as a strategic leader, not a threatened one. Luna: That's smart. And if you're an aspiring CBO, what skills do you need? Lucas: You need to be fluent in both creative and data. You need to understand how brand drives valuation. And you need to be able to navigate the C-suite without stepping on toes. It's a diplomatic role as much as a strategic one. Luna: I love that. One last thing — what's the biggest mistake companies make when they create this role? Lucas: They don't give the CBO any teeth. They hire someone with a great portfolio, but they don't give them budget authority or a P&L. That CBO becomes a glorified brand manager, and the role fades within two years. Luna: So either commit fully or don't do it at all. Lucas: Exactly. Brand stewardship can't be a hobby. It has to be someone's job — with dollars and accountability attached.