Join Books.org — it's free

Marketing & Sales Management
Spanning Silos: The New CMO Imperative by David A. Aaker — book cover

Spanning Silos: The New CMO Imperative

by David A. Aaker
Available on Bookshop Write a review

Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.

Log in to track your reading progress.

Overview

Powerful product, country, and functional silos are jeopardizing companies' marketing efforts. Because ofsilos, firms misallocate resources, send inconsistent messages to the marketplace, and fail to leverage scale economies and successes—all of which can threaten a company's survival.

As David Aaker shows in Spanning Silos, the unfettered decentralization that produces silos is no longer feasible in today's marketplace. It's up to chief marketing officers to break down silo walls to foster cooperation and synergy.

This isn't easy: silo teams guard their autonomy vigorously. As proof of their power, consider the fact that the average CMO tenure is just twenty-three months. How to proceed? Drawing on interviews with CMOs, Aaker explains how to:

• Strength your credibility with silo teams and your CEO
• Use cross-functional teams and other strategic linking devices
• Foster communication across silos
• Select the right CMO role— from facilitator to strategic captain
• Develop common planning processes
• Adapt your brand strategy to silo units
• Allocate marketing dollars strategically across silos
• Develop silo-spanning marketing programs

In this age of dynamic markets, new media, and globalization, getting the different parts of your organization to collaborate is more critical—and more difficult—than ever. This book gives you the road map you need to accomplish that feat.

Synopsis

Why do so many chief marketing officers of multinationals last only two or three years on the job? Because product and country marketing teams – or “silos” – make their professional mandate impossible. Without synergy across silos, global CMOs cannot achieve their goals.

In this eminently practical audiobook, branding guru David A. Aaker tells CMOs what they must do:
• Find the right role and scope
• Gain credibility and buy-in
• Use teams to link silos
• Develop a common planning process
• Adapt the master brand to silo markets
• Prioritize brands in the portfolio
• Develop silo-spanning marketing programs

For each item, Aaker breaks down the CMO’s ambitious organizational challenges into manageable tasks of facilitation, consultation, and partnering. With his guidance, CMOs will have a better chance of reducing the negative attitude toward central marketing, gaining necessary support and resources, implementing cross-silo strategy and programs, cultivating a marketing-oriented culture, improving the pool of marketing talent, and moving toward a leadership role. For some firms, reducing the silo problem is the key to winning; for others, it is no less than the key to survival.

About the Author, David A. Aaker

David A. Aaker is Vice-Chairman of Prophet, a branding, marketing, and innovation consultancy, and has published more that one hundred articles and fourteen books, including Brand Portfolio Strategy, Brand Leadership, Strategic Marketing Management (8th edition), Building Strong Brands, Managing Brand Equity, and From Fargo to the World of Brands. He lives in Orinda, California.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Book Details

Published
October 1, 2008
Publisher
Harvard Business Press
Pages
240
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9781422128763

More by David A. Aaker

Similar books