Tag: Digital Transformation

Digital Transformation is Not a Tech Problem. It’s an Alignment Problem.

August 31, 2025 / John Moss / 0 Comments

Introduction: Why So Many Transformations Fail

Over the past decade, “digital transformation” has become one of the most overused buzzwords in business. Every CEO talks about it. Every board has it on the agenda. And every consulting firm sells it as the solution to nearly every problem.

Yet here’s the uncomfortable truth: 70% of digital transformation efforts fail to deliver their intended results.

Why?

Because too many leaders treat digital transformation as a technology problem. They buy tools, launch platforms, and announce new initiatives — only to watch adoption stall, silos reassert themselves, and promised ROI evaporate.

The reality is this: digital transformation isn’t about technology. It’s about alignment.

The Illusion of Tech-First Transformation

Most failed transformations follow the same script:

A shiny new technology is purchased (CRM, automation platform, AI tool).
IT rolls it out, often with minimal input from end users.
Marketing, sales, and operations continue business as usual.
Six months later, adoption rates are low, reporting is inconsistent, and ROI is nowhere to be found.

The problem isn’t the tool. The problem is lack of alignment between people, processes, and priorities.

I’ve seen companies spend millions on martech and still fail to move the needle, simply because the initiative was treated as an IT project instead of an enterprise transformation initiative.

The Alignment Imperative

So, what does alignment look like in digital transformation?

Shared Vision: Marketing, sales, IT, and operations agree on what transformation is supposed to achieve (revenue growth, retention, efficiency).
Cross-Functional Buy-In: Every department understands their role in success and how they will benefit.
Integrated Processes: Workflows and data are connected across silos, not duplicated in disconnected systems.
Leadership Commitment: Executives model the change, not just sponsor it.

At a financial institution, I led digital initiatives that improved marketing efficiency by 20%. The key wasn’t the toolset — it was aligning leadership across sales, marketing, and operations so everyone moved in the same direction.

Why Culture Eats Technology for Breakfast

The late Peter Drucker said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” In digital transformation, culture eats technology just as fast.

No matter how powerful the platform, if the culture doesn’t support collaboration, data sharing, and change adoption, transformation will stall.

At Bath Fitter, for example, transformation wasn’t just about technology. By bringing together marketing and IT under one leadership structure, we created a culture of cross-functional problem-solving. The result? 40% lead growth, 25% year-over-year revenue growth, and a 15% reduction in operating costs.

Technology was the enabler. Alignment and culture were the drivers.

Common Alignment Breakdowns

Through experience, I’ve observed four recurring breakdowns that sabotage transformation:

Technology Without Purpose: Buying tools before defining the business outcomes.
Siloed Implementation: IT rolls out a system without involving sales, marketing, or operations.
Leadership Disconnect: C-level executives sponsor the project but don’t actively drive alignment.
Lack of Measurement: No clear KPIs tied to business outcomes (e.g., revenue, retention, efficiency).

Each of these breakdowns is an alignment problem, not a technology problem.

The Framework for Alignment-First Transformation

Based on 20+ years leading growth, digital, and client experience initiatives, I use a simple framework for alignment-first transformation:

1. Define Business Outcomes First

Ask: what revenue, retention, or efficiency gains are we targeting?
Keep goals simple and measurable.

2. Involve Stakeholders Early

Bring marketing, sales, IT, operations, and finance into the planning phase.
Make transformation a business initiative, not an IT rollout.

3. Map Processes Before Platforms

Understand current workflows, pain points, and data flows.
Only then design how technology will improve them.

4. Establish Clear Governance

Assign cross-functional ownership of KPIs.
Create accountability beyond IT.

5. Communicate Wins Continuously

Share quick wins with the organization to build momentum.
Reinforce alignment through visible outcomes.

Alignment in Action — Case Studies

Case Study 1: Financial Services
By aligning brand strategy and client experience, we drove a 15% increase in retention and $30M in new revenue. The technology enabled the change, but the real driver was aligning teams around a shared growth goal.

Case Study 2: Home Improvement
At Bath Fitter, marketing and IT worked as one team. By consolidating martech and reengineering processes, we cut costs 15% while accelerating growth. The cultural alignment between teams was the breakthrough.

Case Study 3: Retail Healthcare
At Rite Aid, we transformed ecommerce and mobile platforms, generating $36M+ in digital revenue and $12M in operational savings. The success came not from tech alone but from C-level alignment around digital as both a revenue and efficiency engine.

The Role of Leadership

True transformation requires more than sponsorship from the top. It requires active leadership alignment:

Boards: Must hold leadership accountable for tying digital initiatives to business outcomes.
CEOs: Must champion transformation as a business priority, not an IT experiment.
CMOs/CGOs: Must frame transformation in terms of growth and customer value.
CIOs/CTOs: Must serve as enablers, not gatekeepers.

When leadership models alignment, the organization follows. When leadership is divided, transformation falters.

AI and the Next Wave of Alignment

The rise of AI makes alignment even more critical.

AI offers enormous potential — hyper-personalization, predictive analytics, process automation. But without cross-functional alignment, AI risks becoming another shiny tool with limited adoption.

Organizations must align on questions like:

How will AI enhance customer experience?
How will data be governed and secured?
How will AI-driven insights flow between marketing, sales, and operations?

AI won’t succeed on tech strength alone. It will succeed when leadership and culture align around its responsible use.

Conclusion: Alignment as the True Digital Advantage

Digital transformation isn’t a tech problem. It’s an alignment problem.

The companies that succeed won’t be those that simply buy the best platforms. They’ll be those that align leadership, culture, and processes around clear business outcomes.

Technology will always change. New tools will always emerge. But alignment is the constant that determines whether transformation drives real growth.

The future of transformation belongs to leaders who understand this truth: technology enables change, but alignment drives it.

Why the Future CMO is Really a Chief Growth Officer

August 31, 2025 / John Moss / 0 Comments

Introduction: The CMO at a Crossroads

For years, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) was considered the “voice of the brand.” They oversaw advertising, managed creative agencies, and measured success in impressions, awareness, and share of voice.

But the world has changed.

Today, boards and CEOs are asking very different questions:

How much new revenue is marketing driving?
How effectively is marketing retaining customers?
How is marketing leveraging digital transformation to increase efficiency?

The modern CMO is no longer judged by brand campaigns or vanity metrics. They’re judged by growth.

In fact, in many organizations, the CMO role is quietly being redefined into something else entirely: the Chief Growth Officer (CGO).

This article explores why the shift is happening, what it means for executives and boards, and how marketing leaders must evolve to remain relevant in the next decade.

The Old CMO is Obsolete

The traditional CMO job description revolved around three responsibilities:

Managing brand and creative agencies
Overseeing media spend and advertising
Reporting campaign outcomes in marketing KPIs

This approach worked in an era when TV ads, print media, and direct mail drove results. But digital transformation disrupted everything:

Customers moved online, expecting seamless, personalized experiences.
Marketing technology (martech) exploded, demanding technical fluency.
Boards grew less tolerant of “soft” metrics and demanded measurable ROI.

The result? Many CMOs found themselves boxed in — seen as cost centers rather than growth drivers. A 2023 study by Spencer Stuart revealed the average CMO tenure is now the shortest of all C-suite roles.

Boards aren’t firing CMOs because marketing is less important. They’re firing them because growth is more important than brand management.

If the old CMO was a storyteller, the new CMO must be a strategist, technologist, and growth architect.

The Shift to Growth Ownership

The CMO’s evolution into the CGO isn’t just a cosmetic title change. It reflects a profound shift in responsibility and accountability.

Modern marketing leaders are now judged on:

Revenue growth: Marketing must show direct impact on sales, not just leads.
Customer acquisition and retention: CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) and LTV (Lifetime Value) are as important as impressions.
Cross-sell and upsell performance: Driving growth across existing customers, not just net new.
Digital efficiency: Using data and automation to do more with less.

In my own experience leading a financial institution’s brand transformation, aligning marketing and client experience produced a 15% increase in retention and $30M in new revenue.

At Bath Fitter, an integrated marketing and technology strategy fueled 40% lead growth, a 15% lift in conversions, and 25% YoY revenue growth.

These aren’t just marketing metrics — they’re business outcomes.

The lesson is clear: the marketing leader of the future doesn’t “own the brand.” They own the number.

Growth = Cross-Functional Leadership

Here’s the critical insight: growth doesn’t live in the marketing silo.

It happens at the intersections of:

Marketing + Sales → Alignment around customer acquisition and retention
Marketing + IT → Martech, automation, data integration
Marketing + Operations → Efficiency gains, CX delivery
Marketing + Finance → Budgeting, ROI tracking, shareholder value

The modern CMO/CGO is less a “department head” and more a bridge builder across the enterprise.

At Bath Fitter, I led both marketing and IT — an unusual combination that produced breakthroughs in employee engagement and cost reduction.

At a bank, I oversee both marketing and client experience — uniting brand strategy with CX to directly influence retention and growth.

This dual-focus leadership is the blueprint for the future: CMOs who transcend silos and drive transformation across the enterprise.

Why Private Equity and Fortune 1000 Firms Need CGOs

Private equity (PE) firms and Fortune 1000 companies are under immense pressure:

PE firms need to accelerate value creation in short time frames.
Public companies face shareholder scrutiny for quarterly results.

Both scenarios demand leaders who can unlock growth quickly and sustainably.

Yet too often, marketing in these environments is underleveraged:

Seen as “cost” rather than “investment.”
Fragmented across too many tools, agencies, and initiatives.
Understaffed with the wrong skill sets (creative-heavy, analytics-light).

The right CMO/CGO changes that equation.

In a PE-backed company, I reduced marketing costs by 15% through martech consolidation and smarter processes, while simultaneously delivering 25% year-over-year revenue growth.

That kind of dual impact — growth + efficiency — is exactly what PE firms and Fortune 1000 boards are hungry for.

The Roadmap for the Modern CMO → CGO

So how does a marketing leader make the leap from CMO to CGO? It requires a fundamental mindset shift and a new set of skills.

1. Revenue Accountability

Tie every initiative back to revenue or retention.
Speak in the language of CFOs and CEOs — not “reach” but “ROI.”

2. Martech & Data Fluency

Understand the stack: CRM, CDP, automation, analytics, AI.
Evaluate tools not as shiny objects but as growth enablers.

3. Cross-Functional Leadership

Build coalitions with IT, Finance, Operations, and Sales.
Demonstrate influence beyond marketing.

4. Customer-Centric Strategy

Treat CX not as a support function but as the core of growth.
Remove friction, design seamless experiences, and measure retention as closely as acquisition.

5. Boardroom Presence

Position marketing as an enterprise lever, not a silo.
Educate boards and PE partners on how marketing drives shareholder value.

AI and the Next Wave of Growth

No discussion of the future CMO would be complete without addressing AI.

AI isn’t replacing marketing leaders. But marketing leaders who master AI will replace those who don’t.

Applications include:

Hyper-personalization at scale
Predictive analytics for churn reduction
Automated campaign optimization
Chatbots and self-service CX improvements

The challenge is governance: how do you leverage AI without compromising data ethics, customer trust, or brand reputation?

This is where the CGO lens is essential. AI must be deployed not as a gadget, but as a strategic enabler of sustainable growth.

Implications for Boards and CEOs

Boards and CEOs must ask themselves: Do we have a marketing leader, or do we have a growth leader?

If you only have a marketing leader, you may be missing the engine that drives revenue and enterprise transformation.

The implications are clear:

Boards should recruit CMOs with proven revenue impact, not just brand pedigree.
CEOs should expect their CMOs to be enterprise leaders who bridge marketing, IT, CX, and operations.
PE firms should view marketing as a growth accelerator in portfolio companies, not a line-item expense.

Conclusion: The Future Belongs to Growth Architects

The title “Chief Marketing Officer” may remain, but its mandate is rapidly disappearing.

The future belongs to growth architects — executives who combine brand strategy, digital transformation, martech fluency, and cross-functional leadership to deliver measurable enterprise value.

The companies that recognize this shift will outpace their competitors.
The leaders who embrace this role will future-proof their careers and earn their place at the boardroom table.

In short: the future CMO is really the Chief Growth Officer.