Trading Places: CMO Style.

Kudus to The Drum UK - and these first 2 experimenters – for an idea whose time has come. Or maybe more accurately an idea whose time has returned.

In the “CMO Swap”, marketing leaders from 2 very different companies – but facing many of the same challenges – spend time immersed in the other’s culture and ways-of-working, and not only provide value to their adoptive company but bring back invaluable perspective that makes them better in their original role.

This reminds me of other perspective-enhancing swaps I’ve been fortunate to experience, be it the French foreign exchange student who came to live with my family when I was a child, the Russian pen-pal I corresponded with leading up to my Bar Mitzvah, or the Creative/Planner role reversal that was a critical part of the 90’s training program at agencies like Chiat and Deutsch.

In all of these experiences, the initial uncomfortable strangeness of being an outsider was soon replaced with an epiphany of empathy, then an exciting palette of fresh perspectives to put into action.

Hey @ANA – can we do some of these CMO Swaps in America?

Watch here.