Summary

Most organisations mistake more marketing activity for progress. When decision rights blur, the signal is lost. Focus returns when leadership sets the horizon: CBO on direction, CMO on demand. That’s how the organisation regains momentum and turns distinctiveness into speed, firmer pricing, and cleaner execution.

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Our Perspective

What this means for leaders navigating growth, change or transformation in their organisation.

The Hidden Cost Of Ambiguity

When brand leadership is assumed to sit wholly with the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), organisations often discover—too late—that decision rights were diffuse. Growth drifts to volume rather than value, teams re-open fundamentals in every meeting, and customers get mixed signals. The pattern isn’t about capability; it’s about horizon confusion. Decisions about meaning, standards and guardrails get traded in sessions designed for quarterly pipeline. The result is avoidable friction: delayed choices, costly rework, and a brand that’s defined in execution decks rather than at the leadership table.

Decide By Horizon

A clearer operating logic is to separate roles by time horizon and risk, with the Chief Brand Officer (CBO) stewarding direction and the CMO orchestrating demand. That separation doesn’t dilute authority; it concentrates it.

• CBO: sets direction and governance—positioning, architecture, naming, identity, values, and non‑negotiables.
• CMO: drives demand and delivery—go‑to‑market, campaigns, channel mix, content, and enablement.
• Shared moments: for major launches, the CBO sets standards while the CMO owns execution and commercial outcomes.

This split aligns where judgement lives. The CBO protects meaning across years; the CMO optimises impact across quarters. It’s not hierarchy—it’s horizon management.

Governance That Enables Speed

Role clarity needs a simple operating system, or the old debate reappears under new labels. In our experience with mid‑market leadership teams, the simplest moves are the most decisive.

• One‑page decision map by horizon and risk: who decides, who inputs, who is informed.
• Two cadences: a quarterly brand council for direction; a monthly demand council for prioritisation and trade‑offs.
• Clear gates: naming and identity changes require brand governance; commercial pivots above a threshold trigger review.
• Compact measures: brand equity, demand efficiency, and pricing integrity reviewed together.

This structure reduces debate time and increases throughput. Teams spend less time interpreting intent and more time delivering it.

The Commercial Payoff

When meaning and market impact are each led well, organisations see stronger pricing power, healthier win rates, and fewer discount‑driven deals. That’s because coherence compounds across touchpoints and makes it easier for customers to choose you without negotiation.

Kantar notes that buyers who choose on brand pay around 11% more on average, and when a brand is seen as meaningfully different, that premium rises to 38%—a reminder that distinctiveness monetises when it’s consistently governed.

Put plainly: when the CBO guards the source of difference and the CMO converts it into demand, you turn positioning into willingness to pay. As cycles compress and channels multiply, those who decide by horizon will bank speed and value while others chase volume.

Sources:

• Why pricing power is a brand's greatest asset — Kantar

Further Resources

1. How CEOs Align Brand and Strategy for Success
2. When to Hire a Fractional Chief Brand Officer
3. Message Hierarchy: A Principle for Leadership Success

Curious how this applies in your market? We’re speaking with leaders across industries every week. Let’s talk.

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