Most toxic CMOs do not look toxic; that would be too easy. On the contrary, they look energetic, progressive, collaborative, and almost always pragmatic. Their flaws arrive disguised as leadership virtues that companies reward.
Nor are they necessarily toxic people; Outside of work, they can be wonderful people.
However, toxic CMOs are leaders who leave brands weaker behind as they leave
I spent thirty years inside the machine and I can spot a toxic CMO, because admittedly, I have been one at times. Likely several different kinds of toxic at once. As an old friend of mine used to say, “it takes one to know one.” That’s why I can declaratively say toxic CMOs come in ten familiar forms — you, dear reader, will likely recognize some of these traits too.
#1 – The Personal Brand Manager
Six weeks in, they discover that a sixty-year-old brand has been doing everything wrong. They claim that positioning, identity, signature and — of course — agency, must change. Soon the brand becomes raw material for the CMO’s biography: a transformation project with a cool name, a conference speech and, with luck, an awards entry. Leaving things alone leaves no fingerprints.
#2 – The Action Addict
With him, the brand activity calendar resembles an air-traffic control screen. Of course, no initiative is individually silly, but together they exhaust teams and turn strategy into a shopping list. People start to complain that too much is happening? Another initiative appears: a simplification program, along with a task force to oversee it and, naturally, an urgent workshop on prioritization.
#3 – The Growth Junkie
A topline chart pointing upwards tends to end all discussions. But we all know that price promotions and a proliferation of line extensions often provide the next hit, even while consuming margin, and future demand. Like every addiction, each high requires a larger dose. Growth velocity passes for growth quality; the detox and the bill both belong to the successor.
#4 – The Fashion Victim
No bandwagon survives five minutes without being renamed a ‘growth platform’. Purpose, DTC, Gen Z, fandom, creators and AI follow one another breathlessly. TV, the 4Ps and marketing itself are obviously declared ‘dead’ by whoever sells the replacement. The wardrobe changes constantly. For this type of toxic CMO, being fashionably wrong still feels safer than being unfashionably right.
#5 – The Cutting-Edge Dinosaur
This one speaks fluent cultural micro-targeting; he talks about brand love and programmatic advertising. But Byron Sharp’s latest research and evidence on penetration, light buyers and mental availability has never quite reached his desk. In other words: this CMO has upgraded every marketing tool except his understanding of ‘How Brands Grow’. The equivalent of a doctor prescribing bloodletting through a state-of-the-art app.
