Meeting marketing: how CFOs & CMOs can help drive growth.

• Author: Vollmer, Sabine
• Position: Business issues

Many CFOs have taken note of the valuable customer data that digital technology is generating for the marketing department and have sought a closer relationship with the chief marketing officer, a global EY survey (http://bit.ly/lCDT16B) on the changing role of the CFO suggests.

More than 60 percent of the 652 CFOs polled by EY said their involvement with marketing has increased in the past three years, and 54 percent said they are collaborating more with the chief marketing officer to develop new products and services.

A strong relationship between finance and marketing can help a business achieve profitable, sustainable growth in the digital economy, but the CFO and the CMO have to first overcome relationship barriers, such as the absence of common tools and processes and continued cultural differences.

"For organizations to remain relevant and thrive, the CMO needs to call into question all aspects of the marketing mix--across products, price, distribution channels and promotions," the survey says. "The CFO, meanwhile, needs to make the strategic investments that will enable established companies to adapt without cannibalizing their inherent strengths, and new companies to leapfrog their competitors."

Not Enough Collaboration

Traditionally, CMOs have had a closer relationship with the CEO than with the CFO. In a 2014 EY study, 60 percent of executive managers polled considered the business relationship between the CMO and the CEO strong; only 43 percent said the CMO and the CFO had a strong business relationship.

Although many CFOs have recognized the value of working more closely with CMOs, EY's 2015 poll suggests CFOs and CMOs still don't collaborate enough:

* Fewer than half (47 percent) of the polled CFOs felt they made a significant or very significant contribution to improving customer segmentation and insight, which can help a business differentiate itself from the competition.

* Measuring marketing's return on investment was a high or very high priority to 59 percent of CFOs polled; only 13 percent said the agendas of marketing and finance were aligned.

* Of the 20 percent of CFOs who considered product portfolio optimization a very high priority, 81 percent reported close collaboration with the CMO. Of the CFOs who prioritized product portfolio optimization less, only 47 percent reported a close relationship with the CMO.

* Only 25 percent of CFOs said they are collaborating more closely with CMOs because of the shift to digital...