CMO influence, corporate reputation, ad spend: 5 killer stats to start your week

CMOs ‘losing influence’ in corporate hierarchy

The proportion of CMOs among the top five compensated executives in the US S&P 1500 declined by 35% between 1999 and 2017.

The research used 1999 as a baseline, looking at the top five best paid executives. Over time, it found that marketing experienced the biggest decline, while operations’ influence also fell by around 15%.

At the same time, the proportion of officers representing information or technology has increased by around 140 and those in finance is up by around 30%.

Source: Harvard Business Review

The impact of corporate reputation declines

Corporate reputation supported £941bn in shareholder value for UK companies in the FTSE 350, equal to 35% of their gross market capitalisation. However, while reputation continues to make a major contribution to the value of the UK’s largest companies, the impact is markedly down on a high of £1.06 trillion in 2018, or 38% of market capitalisation.

The fall comes as investors show signs of being “bruised” by uncertainty over a post-Brexit Britain, the prospects for global trade, the US election and the emergence of Covid-19.

However, this decline in corporate reputation is not uniformly spread. Companies in the bottom 20% of performers saw their reputational performance decline by an average of 23 percentage points, while for those in the top 20% it was broadly unchanged (up 0.5 percentage points).

Shell tops the ranking, with its reputation worth £92.3bn, giving it a reputation contribution of 55.8%. BP is in second place on £51.1bn and 51.8%, followed by Unilever (£58.5bn), Diageo (£36.7bn) and Bhpbilliton (£43.6bn).

Source: Reputation Dividend

Online ad spend to overtake offline for first time this year

Online ads will account for more than half of the $660bn forecast to be spent globally on ads this year for the first time.

So-called traditional media is expected to record growth of 1.5% year on year to $324.2bn, its first growth since 2011. But growth in internet advertising will be faster, at 13.2%, making it worth $335.4bn.

TV is set to remain the biggest traditional medium, with spend forecast to rise 2.5% year on year to $192.6bn. However, Google owner Alphabet will generate $149bn on its own, followed by Facebook on $82.9bn.

Source: Warc

A third of small companies don’t think GDPR applies to them

More than a third (38%) of small and medium-sized businesses don’t think GDPR applies to the customer data they come into contact with.

In addition, 18% believe the impact of GDPR has been negative – four times the number across the wider marketing industry.

Nevertheless, most SMBs believe new data regulations have been positive, with 54% citing the impact on marketing programmes, 49% on sales and 60% on internal processes.

Source: Data & Marketing Association

Disconnect between intention and action around sustainability

Some 92% of 10,000 consumers who took part in a survey says they believe the way we treat the planet will have a big impact on the future. However, 48% says that convenience takes priority over sustainability when it comes to purchasing habits.

Furthermore, while 81% describe themselves as eco-friendly, just 50% only buy products from brands that try to be eco-friendly.

Of those who are passionate about sustainability, they are willing to pay up to 15% for products or services that use sustainable practices, are aligned with their values, have transparent business practices, and care about the wellbeing, safety and security of customers.

Source: Getty Images