Branded CIO
There is a reason that the Chief Marketing Officer has the ear of the CEO and CFO and that the CIO doesn’t. The CMO is responsible for the organisation’s brand, but her number one priority is the brand of her department. A strong departmental brand captures the attention of the c-suite which in turn allows marketing to have greater influence on the organisation, which in turn strengthens the brand, creating a virtuous circle.
Typically the IT function pays little attention to its brand and so the organisation perceives the function as self-serving and not part of the team. Smart CIOs get this and they are getting their brand act together.
By delivering basic IT services in a service-oriented manner they are invited to the top table to play a part in more fulfilling matters such as information-fuelled business innovation.
Dreaming about ‘running’ will come to nothing if you haven’t yet demonstrated that you can ‘walk’.
