Listen on Spotify

One sentence company description

Acquia is a Boston-based digital experience company. We help organisations of all different sizes be successful with their web properties.

Can you describe the role of a CMO in one word. Why?

Storyteller. I think it’s hard to put it in one word because being a CMO is also associated with being a storyteller. You share your vision as a marketer and have many ideas for the company, both internally and externally.

What current challenges are CMOs facing? Can you identify a solution?

Building a fantastic, great, and retaining team. Having the right talent and people on your team with the right mix of creative but also data-driven is the current challenge that CMOs face. I’m fortunate to have an excellent team. The other challenge is being an all-rounder data-driver marketer. You have to have enough data to back up your decisions.

How do you explain the success you’ve had in your career?

What I did early on was set goals and objectives, ensuring that I learned all the different parts of marketing. So, I did departmental rotations for a couple of years. So, I have a good grasp of every function of marketing that you can imagine. I’ve also had an opportunity to be in sales. I think it’s been great for me, but I have loved my experience. So, every experience in every role I’ve had, I’ve liked. And I think it’s a for me, and it’s been an excellent combination, putting all that experience together.

Can you tell us about a time you took a major risk in your career?

I moved over to sales and sales leadership for a bit. It gave me tremendous experience hearing directly from customers and learning that the customer’s always right. It helped me a lot in my career. But, it was also a risk at that time because I was nervous about stepping out of marketing for a couple of years. I’m glad that I did it. Eventually, I came back into marketing.

How can you see your role evolving in the next two to three years?

The role of a CMO is constantly changing based on what’s going on in the market. The world is pivoting to online and virtual settings, but in-person events are also coming back. I think being in tune with what’s happening in the market is essential. We’re seeing what people are looking at, like purchasing software products. These are primarily millennials, and they’re a different market.

When we look into how people research projects and brands, we see that many consumers look into the sustainability factor, and if this type of product is good for the environment, there are different ways the market is ever-changing. Every CMO needs to make sure that they continue to be market driven because that’s going to continue to change.

What marketing/business trends are you taking advantage of right now?

We’re focusing a lot on millennials because I think that’s really important. Getting rid of jargon is one of our goals because we want to have direct conversations. Let’s be upfront. Let’s put our pricing on our site and make sure that we’re doing something to help our plant and lower our carbon footprint. Those are the current changes that we’re making right now. 

What career advice would you like to share with CMOs?

Be bold. Take risks. Try new things. The only way you’re going to figure out what works and what you can learn is to try out new campaigns and something different. Don’t hesitate to do it. Make sure that you move quickly so that you know if it’s not working and make the necessary changes.