cmo vs cio by netbiscuits

CMOs vs. CIOs

The fight for mobile web strategy

A Netbiscuits Survey – September 2013

©Netbiscuits 2013

CMOs in the fight for mobile web strategy

As the mobile web grows in popularity and influence, CMOs are becoming increasingly interested in how customers are using mobile channels to interact. They realize the importance of the customer experience, and have spotted the opportunity for more targeted marketing. But are they in full control of this? And - more importantly, should they be?

Contents

1. Introduction

2. Drawing the battle lines: why the fight?

3. Squaring up: who has the influence?

4. Who’s the aggressor?

5. Avoiding a fight? The search for a middle ground

6. Fighting it out: challenges of implementation

7. And the winner is…?

©Netbiscuits 2013

Average number of active customer-facing websites in enterprises over 100 employees

USAUK

22

34

1. Introduction

Enterprises have a lot of websites to maintain. On average, organizations in the USA with more than 100 employees have 34 customer-facing websites1 and those in the UK have 22. CMOs want to be more involved in determining mobile web strategy and direction, but how does this sit with the CIO? What are the points of contention? Can these be overcome with a joint CMO-CIO approach? Or does there need to be an entirely new seat at the executive table?

The Netbiscuits CIO-CMO Survey

A total of 300 CIOs, CMOs and other C-level executives were asked for their views on the mobile web strategy within their organizations. The interviews were carried out by Vanson Bourne in September 2013. All of the organizations represented in this survey are enterprise companies with over 100 employees, while 25% are organizations with over 5,000 employees. To compile this report, 200 participants were interviewed in the United States, and 100 were interviewed in the United Kingdom. All of the organizations taking part in the survey have customer-facing websites.

The fight between the CMO and the CIO

Last year, Gartner predicted that CMOs would spend more on IT than CIOs by 20172. Marketers have much to gain from investment in technology. For example, in the area of mobile web, key performance metrics such as incremental sales, conversion and brand equity are directly influenced by an organization’s ability to optimize their websites for mobile devices. CMOs want to invest more in the technological solutions required to deliver on these indicators. Meanwhile, the CIO has to support cross-organizational goals, and will be managing multiple demands for limited resources.

1 Customer facing website including support websites, microsites and dedicated campaign sites2 http://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2013/07/10/digital-marketing-battlefield-map-cmo-vs-cio-and-gartner-vs-forrester/

©Netbiscuits 2013

2. Drawing the battle lines: why the fight?

The CMO stands out as having very different opinions from all other C-level executives. CMOs by far, have the greatest focus on customer experience, which drives the motivation behind their objectives. While all agree that increasing sales is important, the CMO places a higher priority on other factors. The CMO sees increasing the number of interaction channels, integrating these channels, and improving the level of customer engagement as key building blocks to achieving a higher volume of ongoing sales.

The results

• There was general agreement on overall factors that were considered ‘very important’ or ‘critically important for both CMOs and CIOs. However, the objectives considered critically important (and therefore a more urgent priority), revealed significant variation.

• Here, the CMO’s focus on the customer is particularly apparent: almost 20% more CMOs said that “providing customers with a greater number of channels for interaction” was a critical priority, and almost 15% more CMOs said that improving customer engagement was a critically important objective.


• Considering why a power struggle has emerged, the CMO has a strong foundational case. Increasing overall channel coverage and ensuring customers engage with web content is conducive not only to more sales, but also to building longer term, more solid engagements with customers that foster loyalty, and increase brand equity.

Top 3 objectives for mobile web strategy (proportion of respondants stating critically or very important)

Top 3 objectives rated as ‘critically important’ where there is the greatest di�erence between the CMO and CIO

Provide customers with more channels

for interaction

Improve customer engagement

Integrate dierent digital channels more e�ciently

Increase the number of sales

through mobile sites

Provide customers with more channels

for interaction

Improve customer engagement

CMO CIOTotal Other C-level

50%

0%

84

53

35 3344

29 3442

33 29

798684

7882

76 78 7582

7175

©Netbiscuits 2013

3. Squaring up: who has the influence?

Despite the CMO understanding the needs of the customer, in today’s enterprise, the CIO has a greater influence on mobile web strategy in organizations over 100 employees. Most often, mobile web strategy is solely in their jurisdiction. When the CMO is involved, it is most likely to be in combination with the CIO. Meanwhile, the establishment of another executive function is the least common approach in today’s organizations.

The results

• In 44% of cases, the CIO holds the reigns for mobile web strategy, which is even higher in the USA at 48% of cases.

• Joint CMO and CIO ownership accounts for 27%.

• The CMO has sole ownership of mobile strategy in only one in five organizations.

• Fewer than one in ten organizations has a dedicated function that is independent of the CMO, CIO or other C-level function, such as a Mobile Center of Excellence.


• The CIO is the clear winner here in terms of overall influence. This reflects the historical evolution of organizations, where the strategic components have developed under the CIO, even if some mobile projects may have sprung up on an ad-hoc basis from within marketing.

• The variation in ownership in different enterprises is proof that mobile web strategy strongly challenges traditional organizational structures. The CIO has different priorities than the CMO, who is looking to differentiate the brand in the eyes of the customer.

Who has overall ownership of mobileweb strategy within your organisation?

CIO Split between CIO and CMO

CMO Dedicated function

44%21%

8%

27%

©Netbiscuits 2013

4. Who’s the aggressor?

CIOs have come under criticism, often being seen as an obstacle rather than a facilitator. However, CIOs have adapted as a result of this criticism, and have opened up to more collaborative approaches. This is reflected in the CIOs more gracious views towards ownership of mobile web strategies. Overall, only one in six C-level executives across all functions said that there should be no changes in ownership, showing that most agree that some form of change is required.

The results

• Twice as many CIOs (18%) think that mobile web strategy should become more of a CMO function than CMOs, who think that CIOs should gain more ownership.

• Over half (51%) of CMOs believe that they should acquire more ownership, while 38% of CIOs believed they need more control.

• However, other C-level executives put the CIO marginally in front. 20% said they would like to see more ownership with the CIO, versus 14% for the CMO.


• The CMO is undoubtedly shouting loudest for more ownership.

• CMOs understand that they have the most to gain from wrestling ownership from the CIO. It enables them to gain greater control over some of the key performance indicators that are directly determined by customer experience on mobile platforms.

How would you like to see ownershipof mobile web strategy changing?

CMO should get more ownership

CIO should get more ownership

The CMO view The CIO view

51%

9%

18%

38%

©Netbiscuits 2013

5. Avoiding a fight? A search for middle ground

There is some level of support for establishing a more collaborative approach that can leverage cross-organizational skills. One option is to place mobile web strategy increasingly under joint CMO-CIO ownership. Another is to establish a dedicated function outside the existing C-level functions. But what does the support for these alternatives look like?

The results

• CIOs are more inclined to agree that a joint approach is desirable (23%), and other C-level executives agree (30%). For other C-level executives, this is their preferred solution.

• CMOs disagree. They dislike the idea equally as much as they dislike the idea of ceding more control to the CIO (9%). Almost as unpopular with the CMO is the establishment of a new dedicated function, such as a Mobile Center of Excellence (10%). However, in this case, all functions are in agreement. Only one in ten would like to see this development.


• While the CIO is proportionally more open to seeking a co-operative route, the CMO view is solidly in favor of sole ownership. CMOs must however consider that there are some drawbacks to this approach. While it certainly delivers more control on customer experience, CMOs and CIOs still have to align on a joint common vision for customers: “Those CMOs who choose to ignore this, and go it alone do so at their own peril.” 1

1 Sheryl Pattek, analyst at Forrester, quoted in Forbes, http://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2013/07/10/digital-marketing-battlefield-map-cmo-vs-cio-and-gartner-vs-forrester/, July 2013

Proportion of respondants who agree with the statement “Mobile strategy should increasingly

become a joint CIO-CMO function”

Proportion of respondants who agree with the statement “Mobile strategy should be driven by a new dedicated

function such as Mobile Centre of Excellence”

CMO view CIO view Other C-levelexecutives view

CMO view CIO view Other C-levelexecutives view

9%

23%30%

10% 11%13%

©Netbiscuits 2013

6. Fighting it out: Challenges of implementation

When it comes to implementation, CIOs have a more realistic view of testing sites than their CMO counterparts. Testing remains inadequate and CIOs will, on average, be more aware than CMOs of critical issues. But CMOs have more demanding targets for site speed. This is vital, as every millisecond counts in terms of reducing bounce rate. On the one hand, the CMO push for speed is required to drive CIOs to deliver above and beyond expectations. On the other, is this a question of the ideal, versus the pragmatic?

The results

• On average, websites are tested on approximately 10 devices. This means that brands are potentially ignoring up to 52% of mobile traffic, according to Netbiscuits data.

• Only 50% of CMOs said that testing was “critically or very important to improving customer experience”. In contrast, 74% of CIOs said that testing was “critical, or very important”.

• 90% of CIOs and CMOs want a faster site. 40% of CIOs said that 3 seconds load time was an “acceptable target”, compared with 24% of CMOs. The higher proportion (31%) of CMOs said that “2 seconds” was the “acceptable target”.


• This is a draw. While CMOs want more speed, without testing, web experiences are likely to remain broken. However, CMOs are rightly putting pressure on the CIOs for speeds beyond what is likely to be instantly achievable technically, forcing CIOs to explore if further speed reductions can be reached beyond their usual benchmark.

How important is testing for improving customer experience? Proportion of respondants who

answered critically or very important:

How challenging do you find testing mobile websites?

Extremely orvery challenging

Somewhatchallenging

Not challenging

Unable to say

59%33%

6% 2%

74%

50%

CMO view CIO view

©Netbiscuits 2013

7. And the winner is…?

Different verticals have various ideas about how future ownership of mobile web strategy should develop. The winners will be organizations that are able to establish a structure that enables them to maximize their reach, improve conversion rates, and reduce time to market, regardless of where the ownership sits within the organization. Both the CMO and CIO have valid expertise and opinions that are all required to form the central pillar of a coherent mobile web strategy.

In organizations with no dedicated function, a structure must be established that enables the CMO to take ownership of the customer experience. The CIO must take ownership of how to standardize, and deliver that experience. Mobile web strategy must be based on clear, common business objectives, with targets defined in both these areas. The real battle to watch therefore is not between the CIO and the CMO, but whether a joint CMO-CIO approach or a dedicated functional approach provides the best mechanism to align customer experience objectives, with the technical challenges of delivering these goals. Given prevailing attitudes, a new dedicated function is likely to be out of reach for most organizations in the shorter term. Mobile web strategy is an immediate concern that requires action today. Therefore, CIOs and CMOs must engage in this battle with the aim of establishing flexible, cross-functional teams that can come together with the expertise to facilitate centralized mobile projects. Provided that it doesn’t obstruct company goals, competition between the two functions is both inevitable, and healthy. Both have legitimate objectives that target the successful growth of the company. A successful combination of their approaches and motivations provides the real basis for a very strong strategy.

CMO should get more ownership:

Gets most support fromFinancial services,banking and insurance 48%

It should be joint CMO-CIO:

Gets most support fromProfessional services 35%

CIO should get more ownership:

Gets most support fromPublic Sector 35%

It requires a dedicated function:

Gets most support fromIT and telecoms 28%

©Netbiscuits 2013

For more information

For more information on the details within this report, please contact Duncan Clark. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @duncanjclark or @Netbiscuits

About Netbiscuits

Netbiscuits is the global leader in software solutions for adaptive mobile web experiences used by brands worldwide. The Netbiscuits solution is powered by the Netbiscuits Cloud Platform. This technology helps reduce the cost, time and risk involved in developing mobile web applications that deliver a customized, superior mobile user experience across all connected devices.

Netbiscuits hosts in excess of 300,000 mobile web applications, supported by a comprehensive eco-system of web infrastructure vendors and systems integrators. The Netbiscuits Cloud Platform efficiently and securely delivers a tailored mobile web experience through industry-leading testing and software detection services. Intuitive shortcuts that are part of the Netbiscuits Development Framework help create and deploy rich web browsing features for both legacy mobile devices, as well as the latest tablet and smartphone releases. For more information, please visit: www.netbiscuits.com

About Vanson Bourne

Vanson Bourne is an independent specialist in market research for the technology sector. Our reputation for robust and credible research-based analysis, is founded upon rigorous research principles and our ability to seek the opinions of senior decision makers across technical and business functions, in all business sectors and all major markets.

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