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Writer's pictureDavid Isaac

Understanding the Intersection of CMO vs CPO: What You Need to Know in 2023.

Updated: Aug 21, 2023


Why Frequent C-Suite Shuffling Signals a Need for Customer-Centricity


Maximizing Revenue and Retention: Driving Business Success with a Unified Approach to Breaking Down C-Suite Siloes.

The Evolving Landscape of Growth Strategy Driven by CPO vs CMO Collaboration

Shortening tenures in the C-Suite is an indicator that companies are changing their Growth Strategy more frequently. How customer-centric is the basis for this strategy change?


In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, it's crucial to ask: Are these changes reactive or are they strategically aligned with a deep understanding of customer needs?



The Tenure for SMO's is dropping, and CPOs are becoming more influential

The roles of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Chief Product Officer (CPO), and Chief Growth Officer (CGO) can often overlap and create confusion in organizations. With the rise of digital, product-led growth, the confusion only grows. This is a complex issue that involves growth strategy, innovation, customer experience design, organizational design, incentive alignment, and key performance indicators (KPIs).


The challenge is figuring out who has the understanding of where customer demand will be, who is responsible, and which teams are needed to improve products and go-to-market. It's also important to determine who will develop and own the systems for data and analytics to refine customer retention and improve monetization payback periods.



Roles and Responsibilities Rather than Titles

The terms CPO and CMO refer to two different executive roles within an organization, namely the Chief Product Officer (CPO) and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). These roles, and what a CPO and CMO do, although different, are critical to the success of a company.


But as companies evolve, so do these roles.


Increasingly, there are overlapping responsibilities between the titles. For SaaS companies, CPO's are increasingly being tapped to CEO roles, as they have a superior vantage point across multiple departments and are deeply in tune with the voice of the customer. This shift suggests a growing recognition that customer-centricity should be at the core of business strategy.