Page 9 - Engage -- no.11 -- Winter 2018

“With what seems like weekly technology changes, new fractional media opportunities, changes in content-sharing vehicles, new solution providers for CMOs entering the market, and the emergence of new competitors to CMOs’ brands, CMOs need each other now more than ever,” Krainik says. “I feel strongly that no one knows more about CMOs’ challenges and how to help CMOs solve their challenges than their peers.”
Since those in positions of leadership often have less time than most to find their footing in
a job and often don’t have peers within their own companies’ walls to bounce ideas off of, it makes sense that they would seek out a peer group like The CMO Club. But peer groups may offer even more benefits for individuals just beginning to find their footing in marketing positions or for those starting to climb the corporate ladder.
At just 34 years of age, Andy Stief has accomplished a great deal in his short career.
The Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for PGIM Real Estate Finance in Washington,
DC, has worked in marketing-related positions for his entire career. Because his industry colleagues earlier in his career were members
of the American Marketing Association (AMA), he became a member as well. And this past November, Andy became a member of The CMO Club. Stief is also a member of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), for whom he serves on the Marketing Officers’ Roundtable.
“Operating within the commercial real estate financing industry meant joining MBA was a must, and I was really attracted to the marketing- focused group they put together, because I wanted to contribute to and learn from the conversation going on about how marketing is impacting the industry,” he says.
Stief says there are two major benefits of interacting with marketing peers. The first benefit is the opportunity to build a professional network that can lead to career opportunities, offer the chance for CMOs to hear about trends, and even lead to the discovery of new hires. The second benefit is the opportunity to validate problems and find resolutions. Stief operates with the knowledge that if he has certain challenges in his role, there’s a strong likelihood that others have encountered
similar obstacles in their positions.
“It helps to validate the challenge and even
frame it correctly when interacting with peers,”
he says. “Odds are also good that one or more people have also developed a solution. Maybe
not something you can make a carbon copy of in your company, but at least it’s enough to get you thinking about possible solutions you may not have thought about before.”
The differences between The CMO Club and forums or groups on sites such as LinkedIn are the “safe” environment and the “no sales pitch” rule of the club. Krainik believes this low-pressure environment is the most important benefit for CMO Club members. “We want deals to happen and partnerships to form, but all based on mutual interest, not solicitation,” he says. “It’s been interesting to watch the members police this
framework and call out people that don’t live by these rules. At every dinner, summit, or virtual roundtable, we review and emphasize the safe environment for being open in asking for help and helping others.”
Krainik says CMOs join The CMO Club for three reasons: to get their biggest challenges solved with the help of their peers in a trustworthy environment behind closed doors; to build long-term relationships with peers for fun and as their own inner circle when they need help in the future; and to build their own personal brand through interviews, roundtable participation, opportunities to speak at summits, and CMO- curated research. They stay in the club, he believes, because it has become a sort of family, in which personal commitment to friends in the club stands above all else.
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Andy Stief’s advice on
getting the most from a peer
group membership:
Joining and being active in an association or peer group is both the easiest and hardest thing to do, and
it will pay dividends throughout your career. It’s easy in the sense that becoming a member generally entails
lling out an online form and paying a membership fee, which your company should willingly pay for. It’s di cult in that you’ll likely be going into a room full of strangers the rst time, and you must
be consistent and active in order to derive all the bene ts from your membership. The e ort will be well rewarded, I assure you. Try to sign up with a coworker or industry colleague and attend events together so you can help each other network without feeling alone. Join a committee to get more opportunities to interact, and in a more intimate fashion. Almost all of the associations and peer groups I’ve seen have some version of “young leaders” or “junior” or “new-to-the-industry” committees that you should look for. Also, try to nd peer groups that are industry speci c. Lastly, if you somehow nd yourself in an industry that doesn’t have a formalized marketing peer group, start one of your own. You don’t need bylaws or a ton of structure. Form a MeetMe group or, even easier, start a private LinkedIn group where you can connect folks and have discussions whenever you want.