If there’s ever been a year where innovation, risk, leadership, empathy and evolution in marketing were needed, 2020 was it.s the Covid-19 pandemic upended industries and economies alike, companies were forced to disrupt themselves and how they think about consumers. At the intersection of that shift were chief marketing officers.
Nearly half of this year’s CMO Next honorees were promoted to CMO or an equivalent role in their companies in 2020. Meanwhile, another dozen were appointed CMO in 2019, giving them at least a few months to learn the lay of the land before it would all change. Many work for companies that either benefited from or were challenged by lockdowns, changing consumer mindsets and broader shifts either accelerated or caused by the pandemic.