Chief Digital Officers: Bridging the Innovation Gap Between the CIO and CMO

The chief digital officer (CDO) is no longer an exotic, quixotic, flash-in-the-pan role. In some of the world's leading brands, the CDO is now the general manager of a large digital business unit with significant revenue targets reporting to the CEO. This is one of the fascinating conclusions from IDC's latest report on the CDO role based on interviews with CDOs from: Caterpillar, CVS Health, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Meredith Corp., SAP Digital, Travelex, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Under Armour.

The title of this study should in no way insinuate any lack of innovation on the part of CIOs or CMOs. Both roles are managing digital transformations that are reshaping everything about their organizations. Those efforts can be all consuming, so some brands are establishing the CDO to lead strategic innovation. Free from the operational KPIs of the CMO and infrastructure demands of the CIO, the CDO is expected to invent the digital growth engines of the future.

Information and software-based companies are moving into services and support areas across industries. They are bringing new business models based on data services, sharing economies, and mobility much faster than established companies can. This is a huge threat as these areas are major revenue growth opportunities in industries that may be in low single-digit growth mode. Legacy brands typically don't have the core competencies in software development or data and analytics needed to bring information-based products to market. In addition, cultures at many large enterprises are not used to the extreme cadence of digital business. As a result, leading companies are not only driving internal innovation and developing their own talent, they are investing and acquiring start-ups.

Based on our interviews, we have developed three archetypes for today's CDO:

• The digital GM: Reports to the CEO and leads the establishment and/or transformation of a significant business.
• The digital Disrupter:Reports to the EVP or equivalent and leads a dynamic team charged with driving product and service innovation and cultural transformation.
• The digital Evangelist:Reports a level or two down but is highly visible to the executive level. Leads a small team designed to raise digital IQ throughout the organization.

In practice, the CDO role spans a spectrum of overlapping responsibilities. The digital GM also drives innovation and raises the digital IQ of the entire enterprise. The digital disrupter is also in charge of raising digital and social adoption across the company. The digital evangelist is more of a support role that helps senior leaders drive digital transformation.

Two key questions every company should ask itself during the annual executive planning cycle are:

1. If we wanted to completely disrupt our industry, what kind of company would we start?
2. How do we become that company?

The executives running the companies profiled in this study have asked themselves these questions in one form or another. They may not have all the answers yet, but they have dedicated themselves to finding out before they get "Appled," "Ubered," or "Airbnbed." New mantras for the digital era are:

• The only way to control the pace of change is to set it — that's the primary mission of the CDO
• Always be disrupting
• Follow the money: find out where the VC money is going in your industry and watch those companies closely, partner with them, and invest in them or buy them if you can

For more information about this report please contact me: gmurray(at)idc(dot)com.

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Organizational Tips for Leading the Marketing Transformation

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the marketing transformation? You aren't alone.  An IDC analysis of tech marketing staff changes since 2009 reveals that CMOs have had to squeeze traditional staff functions to accommodate five new roles: analytics/business intelligence, marketing technology, social marketing, sales enablement, and campaign management. In 2013, these new five roles collectively made up 14% of the total marketing staff.

IDC invited organizational change expert, Dr. Rick Mirable, to advise our clients on insights for leading more successful organizational change initiatives. Here are some of the tips that Dr. Mirable, who has more than 20 years of diverse business consulting and academic experience, offered:

• What we believe about change determines how we will respond to change. People hold beliefs about the capability of both company culture and individual people's ability to change. Good change initiatives raise awareness of these biases.
• Successful change initiatives require that leaders be included. It's not only individuals deep in the organization that need transformation, but leaders must also be role models for the change they want to see.
• People resist change for many reasons. Change can threaten our sense of security (What will happen to me?) and our sense of competence (Can I learn new skills?). People may worry they will fail. They may not understand why change is needed. Companies may inadvertently reward people who resist change by penalizing people who try new things and fail.
• Some resistance to change comes from unspoken resentment. Companies must allow for expression of the relevant "inner conversations" that people have with themselves about the change — views that are not explicit to others. Resentment is like dirty laundry — if you don't get rid of it eventually it starts to smell!
• Some change initiatives fail simply because the organization isn't ready. Assess your readiness and then bring those areas found lacking up to speed before embarking.
• The communication portions of most change efforts are weak and not consistent over the long haul. The communication must be open and bidirectional. Messages and goals need to be regularly repeated and reinforced.
• Company culture is essential to sustaining success over time. One cultural attribute proven to accelerate change is the empowerment of individuals to make decisions that further the change goals. It is a best practice to ask people what they want to do (and ask for management permission to do it) rather than telling them what to do. This practice encourages innovation and accountability and drives change deeper in the organization.
• Don't confuse "movement" with progress. When you get off the freeway during a traffic jam, you may be able to move faster; however, that movement doesn't guarantee that you are actually moving toward your destination or will get to it any more quickly. IDC notes that marketing teams that measure activity rather than outcomes are making this error.
• Create circumstances for people to motivate themselves. Motivation can include extrinsic rewards such as money. Proven to be even more effective are intrinsic rewards — challenge, learning, responsibility, contribution, and career path advancement. Intrinsic rewards tap into the power of people's passions. Companies are advised to structure people's work so as to allow passion to surface.
• Reduce resistance by creating a "burning platform." Clarify the risks and benefits of the change and involve the collective wisdom of the group. Give people a role in the change. Involve a person's "head" and "heart" as well as the "feet" of required actions.

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