Dive Brief:
- BuzzFeed CMO Frank Cooper is leaving the digital publisher after 17 months on the job, according to reporting from Adweek.
- Cooper previously served as CMO for PepsiCo and also spent time with AOL and Def Jam Recordings. The Wall Street Journal originally broke the story, and there hasn’t been confirmation on Cooper’s next move.
- Because of his brand experience, Adweek reported that Cooper was viewed by the marketing industry as someone who helped connect BuzzFeed with potential advertisers particularly via video ad formats that offered marketers reach into BuzzFeed’s large audience and social media reach.
Dive Insight:
Publishers, both traditional and digital, are struggling to drive monetization strategies as consumers look for ways to bypass ads. Cooper was ostensibly hired to help BuzzFeed address this challenge. At the time of his appointment, BuzzFeed said Cooper would be working on pushing the creative boundaries of branded content, among other things. Cooper's departure could be a sign that having publishers and brands work more closely together is a tough path.
While the CMO's exit could slow down BuzzFeed's efforts in the short term, the ability to provide sponsored content and other native advertising-driving experiences is critical as readers' habits continue to move to mobile.
The CMO position has changed radically in the digital marketing age with technology, measurement and ROI tracking ability giving marketing leaders more boardroom clout than ever. Gartner recently confirmed an earlier prediction that CMOs will be making more technology purchases than CIOs next year. Even with the newfound respect and responsibility, one aspect of the CMO position that hasn’t changed is how common short tenures are, with Cooper’s leaving BuzzFeed one more example of that dynamic. The average tenure for a CMO is 44 months.
One data point that CMOs might find daunting is a Forrester report from earlier this month that predicts at least 30% of CMOs will be fired next year due to a lack of skills necessary to lead a corporate digital transformation. While CMOs are being tasked to handle major enterprise technology purchases and take the reins of the digital challenge, the job still entails the creative side of juggling internal teams and third-party agency and vendor relationships.