Forbes recently published a list of the 50 most influential CMOs of 2014 in conjunction with the folks at Appinions. According the to AdAge article where I discovered the list, “the CMOs were ranked by how they have established themselves by sharing opinions that and generate significant reactions.”
More specifically, Appinions analyzed over 100 million articles from news, blog, and social media sources, noting opinions from and reactions to CMOs from 500 of the Forbes Global 2000 largest companies. From that analysis, they created an influence score and ranking.
eMarketer has reported in the past that consumers appreciate brands more when C-level executives are active on social media. Social media is a great way for CMOs to show their “people” skills and their digital savvy in today’s world of all digital, all the time.
I was happy to see Karen Quintos of Dell appearing on the list as Dell is one of our clients. In fact, Technology company CMOs (ex: Apple, Google, Dell, EMC, Cisco, Go Daddy) fared the best in this research with 41% of the list, followed by 25% from the Automotive industry.
The most influential brands specific to online marketing included: Facebook, Google, Twitter, YouTube, and Amazon.
The 5 most influential CMOs in the online marketing space are:
- Barb Rechterman – GoDaddy
- Ariel Kelman – Amazon
- Lorraine Twohill – Google
- Blair Christie – Cisco
- Mark Addicks – General Mills.
Here’s the full list of most influential CMOs and where I could find them, I added Twitter handles or links to LinkedIn profiles for each marketing executive in the list:
1. Phil Schiller, Apple – @pschiller
2. David Lauren, Ralph Lauren – @davidlauren
3. Tim Mahoney, General Motors – /in/timothy-mahoney
4. Jim Farley, Ford – /in/jim-farley
5. John Frascotti, Hasbro – /in/john-frascotti
6. Kristin Lemkau, JPMorgan Chase – @KLemkau
7. Trevor Edwards, Nike – /in/trevor-edwards
8. Beth Comstock, General Electric – @bethcomstock
9. Seth Farbman, Gap – @sethfarbman
10. Alain Visser, Volvo – Corporate bio
11. Matt Jauchius, Nationwide Mutual – @mattjauchius
12. Richelle Parham, eBay – @RichelleParham
13. Martine Reardon, Macy’s – /in/martine-reardon
14. Kevin Krone, Southwest – /in/kevin-m-krone
15. Olivier Francois, Fiat Chrysler – Corp bio
16. Stephanie Linnartz, Marriott – /in/stephanielinnartz
17. Andrew Nocella, American Airlines – /in/andrew-nocella
18. Barb Rechterman, GoDaddy – @HorsesToHarleys
19. Blair Christie, Cisco – @BlairChristie
20. Anne Finucane, Bank of America – @AnneFinucane
21. Russell Wager, Mazda – @Russell_Wager
22. Jim Berra, Carnival – @jbnmiami
23. Jeremy Burton, EMC – @jburton
24. Alan Gershenhorn, UPS – @AlanGershenhorn
25. Tony Pace, Doctor’s Associates (Subway) –
26. Keith Weed, Unilever – @keithweed
27. Dorothy Dowling, Best Western –
28. Ola Kallenius, Mercedes-Benz –
29. Dana Anderson, Mondelez – /in/dana-anderson
30. Ariel Kelman, Amazon – @akelman
31. Michael Zuna, Aflac – @mzuna
32. Jeannine Haas, Avis Budget Group – @jninehaas
33. Karen Quintos, Dell – @karendellcmo
34. Ken Chaplin, Trans Union – /in/kenchaplin
35. Khaled Elkhouly, Etisalat – /in/khaled-elkhouly
36. Lorraine Twohill, Google – /in/lorraine-twohill
37. Mark Hug, Prudential Financial – /in/mark-hug
38. Roel de Vries, Nissan – /in/roel-de-vries/
39. Mike Wege, Hershey Company – in/mike-wege
40. Brian Smith, Lexus – /in/brian-smith
41. David Christopher, AT&T – /in/david-christopher
42. Loren Angelo, Audi – /in/loren-angelo
43. Deanie Elsner, Kraft – @deanie_elsner
44. Roy Benin, Mars – /in/roy-benin
45. Ann Mukherjee, Frito-Lay – Profile
46. Andrea Riley, Ally Financial –
47. Ann Glover, Voya Financial – /in/abglover
48. Jeffrey Hirsch, Time Warner Cable – @jeffreyahirsch
49. Andy England, MillerCoors – /in/andy-england
50. Johan Buse, SingTel – /in/johan-buse
Quite a few of these CMOs are not active on social networks – in a professional capacity at least.
What do you think about that? Is it a lost opportunity for these marketing leaders to be absent from social conversations or is it prudent since a presence would boost expectations for dialog that may not be relevant?
Top photo: Shutterstock
