My job is to put myself in their shoes.
Every day, I try to get a feel for what drives my customers and what upsets them. My aim is not to deliver services, but to build solutions.
And when you slip into the shoes of a Dir Com or CMO in 2025, you quickly understand one thing: their job has become an impossible equation.
The paradox: knowing how to do everything, without being able to do everything
There was a time - not so long ago - when managing a company's image was still a matter of common sense, a media plan and a bit of flair.
Today, it's a highly technical marathon. Every channel, every discipline, every point of contact has become a world in itself:
UX writing? A profession.
Organic content on TikTok? An algorithm that changes every three weeks.
YouTube SEO optimisation or generative AI for brand content? Subjects in their own right.
Each channel has become its own world, with its own codes, formats, algorithms, vocabulary and self-proclaimed gurus. It's no longer enough to “make content”: you have to master the logic of UGC, understand the dark patterns of engagement on each platform, master AARRR funnels, produce snack content, long-form, podcasts, video, 3D, and now generative AI.
As a result, nobody can reasonably master everything any more. And yet, the Dir Com and CMO are being asked to maintain brand consistency, generate leads and make the company shine... often in the same month. AND with fewer staff 😭
The wrong idea: delegate everything to specialists
So, to survive, we segment. We outsource. We surround ourselves with specialised agencies and formidable freelancers.
But this has two perverse effects:
- Dilution of the brand: everyone works with their own grids, their own logic. The result? A brand that starts to look like a patchwork quilt.
- Structural dependency: the CMO becomes the conductor of the orchestra, with neither the full score nor the time to retune everything at each sprint.
A few figures to set the scene
CMO turnover is accelerating: on average, a CMO stays in post for 40 months, compared with 60 for a CEO. (Forbes, 2024)
78% of CMOs believe their role has become ‘too broad to be truly strategic’. (Deloitte CMO Survey, 2023)
A major brand works with an average of 12 external partners per year for its content. (ANA, 2022)
Rethinking brand governance
Perhaps it's time to change the software, and rely on governance models that put the brand at the centre, rather than carving it up into silos.
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Model 1: The CBO - CMO - CCO triangle
This model is based on a Chief Brand Officer, the guardian of consistency, equity and uniqueness over the long term.
He works in synergy with :
The CMO, in charge of product strategy, go-to-market and performance.
The CCO, who is responsible for stories, messages and expression across all channels.
This trio makes it possible to break out of the ‘marketing does everything’ pattern and restore the brand's role as a compass.
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Model 2: Leadership rotating between CExO, CMO and CCO.
Here, leadership changes depending on the phase of the project:
Upstream, the Chief Experience Officer (CExO) steers the journeys, the insight, the user interface.
The CMO takes control of the launch strategy and KPIs.
The CCO orchestrates the narrative and amplification.
The selection of partners becomes joint, decision-making shared, and consistency more robust.
🧠 And have you found your brand alter ego?
Because behind every successful CMO or Dir Com today, there's often someone in the shadows.
An ally, a sparring partner, a shadow member of the comex who :
helps you to arbitrate between long-term branding and weekly ROI expectations,
provides you with ready-to-present solutions for your committees,
acts as a diplomatic (or tactical) intermediary with your ultra-specialised partners,
and above all... is not afraid to contradict you in order to stay on course.
This partner is neither a supplier nor a simple agency. It's someone who thinks with you, acts for you, and sometimes speaks for you. Their objective is to make you shine in the same way as the brand they manage.
Perhaps that's the new luxury of the Dir Com or CMO: not being alone in this impossible equation.
👉 What about you? Who is your brand's right-hand man? How do you build your governance?
I'm curious to read your feedback, your models, your adjustments. Let's share our realities: they deserve to exist.
