Dive Brief:
- CMOs are finding out that not all marketing is external as they are being increasingly tapped to use their skills to protect and improve corporate culture.
- Companies are seeking to make sure their culture reflects the brand knowing how transparent the marketplace is with people inside and outside of companies aware of the corporate culture.
- A survey of 80 senior leaders at the Kellogg Marketing Leadership Summit by Egon Zehnder found 95% believe a company’s perceived culture impacts buying decisions.
Dive Insight:
What's more, consumers are demanding more trust from the companies they choose to do business with. The survey also found 60% reported believing their corporate culture supports their brand, and 20% reported their culture actually undermines their brand. All of the surveyed leaders agreed CMOs should have an increased role in corporate culture.
Rory Finlay, who co-heads Egon Zehnder's marketing officer practice with Dick Patton, told Ad Age that culture is a topic that CMOs are struggling with, adding, "It's a hard thing to define and it's a hard thing to talk about, but it's increasingly becoming more important."
One example of the marketing department handling how corporate culture is defined is FIS’s acquisition of SunGard. While bringing 13,000 new employees into the newly-merged company, the marketing team set up a microsite that included infographics and videos. And FIS’s Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Ellyn Raftery told Ad Age, "who we are, what it is that we do every day, why does that matter and what's your role in it" for the new employees."