June 27, 2025
8 Truths from MMA India’s Boardroom Reset
At MMA Global India’s recent board meeting - held in-person after Day 2 of IMPACT India 2025 - senior leaders from Amazon, Nestlé, Kotak, Jubilant, HP, Domino’s, Accenture, and more engaged in a high-stakes conversation: Is the CMO title broken? And what comes next? In this special feature, we decode 8 bold signals from the boardroom on why the CMO’s relevance, remit, and reputation must be redefined.
Is It Time to Rebrand the CMO?
On May 8, right after IMPACT Day 2 concluded, the MMA Global India Board gathered for a high-energy in-person meeting in Gurugram. With Greg Stuart, CEO of MMA Global, in the room for the first time in India, what began as a routine board discussion quickly evolved into something much more urgent: a collective reflection on the evolving identity - and possible obsolescence - of the Chief Marketing Officer.
Across industry verticals, from BFSI to D2C to tech, board leaders surfaced a tough truth: the CMO title no longer reflects the power, potential, or pressure of modern marketing leadership.
Board guests for the evening:
Here are 8 sharp provocations from the boardroom that now form the backbone of a critical narrative MMA India is driving forward - one that could redefine the role, relevance, and responsibilities of marketing leadership in 2025 and beyond.
8 Provocations on the Rebranding of the CMO Role
1. The CMO Title Is in Crisis - and So Is Its Perception
Across multiple sectors, CMOs are being reduced to “brand heads” or “communications leads.” The true levers of business growth - CX, data, performance, and digital - are often managed by other CXOs. Several board members argued that “Chief Marketing Officer” no longer captures the function’s full scope - and that perhaps the title itself is due for a reset.
2. From Brand Custodian to Growth Architect - the Job Has Changed
The board agreed: the role of marketing today is to drive growth. But the structure, language, and perception of the CMO still lean toward brand-building and not business impact. The emerging consensus? Marketing must earn its seat by being growth-first - not ad-first.
3. Fragmentation Is Undermining the CMO’s Power
From BFSI to consumer goods, board members shared a recurring theme: marketing is fractured. “Performance” sits in one team, “CX” in another, and data often lives outside the marketing function. This dilution is making it harder for CMOs to deliver end-to-end impact - and easier for others to take over critical mandates.
4. In Startups, the CMO Doesn’t Even Exist
Vivek Gambhir noted that in many unicorns and D2C setups, marketing is founder-led - and marketers are seen as optional. This is a dangerous precedent. If the industry doesn’t define the value of marketing leadership, others will define it by exclusion.
5. Marketers Must Learn to Speak the Language of the Boardroom
“Marketing is seen as a cost centre,” said Sunita Bangard - and that perception won’t change until marketers speak in business terms. The board emphasized the need for CMOs to build fluency in finance, ROI, and business KPIs - or risk becoming irrelevant in high-stakes conversations.
6. Owning Outcomes, Not Just Outputs, Is the Way Forward
Deepali Naair pointed to a harsh reality: many marketing leaders today are focused on storytelling, not outcome delivery. Whether it’s e-commerce revenue, digital sales, or retention, the future CMO must take charge of outcomes, not just campaigns.
7. We Need a New Organizing Logic for Marketing Leadership
The conversation moved beyond job titles to structural change. As Greg Stuart shared, MMA’s work globally shows that aligning marketing capabilities with business strategy directly impacts growth. In India, the same recalibration is overdue - with many CMOs still not owning the full value chain.
8. Rebranding the Role Starts with Reclaiming It
The boardroom consensus? We don’t need a new title for the sake of it. We need a new definition of leadership. Whether the future belongs to Chief Growth Officers or Business Architects, one thing is clear - marketing leadership must reassert its place at the table, or risk being written out of the strategy altogether.
Closing thoughts
This wasn’t just a meeting. It was a reckoning. As MMA Global India moves into H2, the board has set the tone for a sharper, bolder conversation - one that could reshape not just how CMOs are seen, but what they actually stand for.
The question isn’t whether the CMO role should evolve. It’s whether marketers are ready to lead that evolution - before someone else does it for them.
Board members included: https://www.mmaglobal.com/local-councils/india
Catch LIVE glimpses from the session.
