2019 has brought some notable changes to the list of Fortune 100 CMOs, a role that continues to evolve beyond the management of a company’s marketing functions into revenue generation, vision and strategic direction.
This year brings 13 new additions to the list, as well as one big move. Below we’ve outlined a few of the highlights. (You can download the full list here.)
Climbing the ladder
Ford and Fedex both have new CMOs as of 2019, and those executives caught our eye for one key reason: They are company lifers who got where they are by working their way up the ladder.
Joy Falotico started with Ford back in 1989 as a customer service associate at Ford Motor Credit Company, rising through the ranks to become group VP of Lincoln Motor Company and CMO of Ford Motor in March of 2018. “My career has been more of a journey, and I’ve had lots of opportunities to do 20 different jobs,” Falotico has said. “Everything we get to touch in marketing globally, working with Ford, working with dealers and working in all the different regions, has been a good experience.”
Brie Carere joined Fedex back in 2001 as a marketing specialist. Some 18 years later, she was promoted to EVP and chief marketing and communications officer for the logistics giant — making her the sole woman on the FedEx executive leadership team. “I can say I’ve always felt supported and had every opportunity to thrive at FedEx, despite having four young children and having to balance being a mom and working more than full time,” Carere recently told USA Today.
Moving on — and moving up
Antonio Lucio left big shoes to fill when he jumped from one Fortune 100 CMO role to another, ending his run at HP to become CMO at Facebook in Q3 of last year.
Lucio led the marketing organization at HP for three years, and prior to that, he was the CMO of Visa and a top marketer at PepsiCo. “Remember, change is inevitable. Growth and success are not,” Lucio wrote in an op-ed for Campaign. “What lies before us in marketing is happening whether we like it or not. Embracing it. Adapting to it. That is the only way that change becomes growth, success and true meaningful impact.
Vikrant Batra, who has been at HP since 2010, stepped in to fill the vacancy left by Lucio. Batra, a chemical engineering graduate, is building a marketing strategy based on innovation. “Innovation is not one more thing that marketers need to do; innovation is the way that a marketer needs to think and behave,” he has said.
Big changes
For several executives on our list, their transition to the CMO role marks a significant change — the end of a lengthy career in one company or industry for a fresh start at the next.
Kevin Warren, for one, recently took the CMO role at UPS after 35 years with Xerox. “None of us is exempt from change, and all of us have to keep pace with it. So don’t hide from it. Lean into it,” he has said. “Wrestle these old mindsets to the ground and become change masters and create the next great leaps for your organization.”
And Elizabeth Brady last year joined Allstate as EVP and chief marketing, innovation and corporate relations officer, after spending the bulk of her career in the agency world, at Publicis and BBDO. "Opportunities to help lead an iconic company with great brands that embraces innovation do not come along that often, and I am thrilled to be joining the Allstate team," Brady said.
Maintaining the best kind of status quo
Lists of leading corporate executives are a valuable asset — particularly when your sales strategy is built on C-suite selling. But compiling this data also gives us an opportunity to study the numbers and, particularly, the state of diversity in the C-suite.
On the 2019 list of Fortune 100 CMOs, just under 50% of the executives are women. That makes “chief marketing officer” one of the few C-suite positions with near-gender parity. By contrast, just 20% of CIOs in the Fortune 500 are women. And when it comes to CEOs in the Fortune 500, just 5% are women.
Want to access the full list of Fortune 100 CMOs?
You can download the complete list here. And as always, to access critical insights and up-to-date information that could help you close your next deal, become a Boardroom Insiders subscriber. Sign up for a free demo and learn more about how we can take your sales efforts to the next level.
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