I recently had a phone conversation with one of the world’s most influential CMOs to get her views on modern marketing. We discussed social impact responsibility, fighting slavery in the supply chain, expectations for CMOs, B2B vs. B2C marketing, and consumer data and trust. In her own words, here’s how SAP’s Alicia Tillman described a few of the top challenges and priorities that come with leading one of the world’s largest tech companies:
Alicia Tillman, CMO of SAP
On brands’ social impact responsibility:
When you work for a company the size of SAP—over 100,000 employees, over 480,000 customers, with locations across 180 countries we are absolutely in a position to impact change. We have the resources needed to make a difference, and frankly we’ve always believed it’s our responsibility given the breadth and depth and the scale of our company to do so. When we look at what’s driving today’s headlines—climate change, diversity and inclusion—businesses predominantly hold the top spot in these headlines be it good or bad. And as the world around us transforms, and people are getting more comfortable with their voices, they are speaking out. They are calling for change, and they're looking for companies as one entity and their leaders to lead through that change.
We support and use the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals as the framework in which we look where SAP has the resources and technology to impact across the SDGs. Working to end poverty, protect the planet, fight diseases, ensure prosperity—this is what the UN SDGs are all about.
On fighting slavery in the supply chain:
If you think about one of the greatest issues in the supply chain, it’s forced labor conditions. This is modern slavery that is a problem created due to a lack of transparency in the supply chain.
We’ve partnered with an organization called Made in a Free World. Made in a Free World is focused on understanding where in the world there are known forced labor conditions. If you look at our transactional data, we have an ability based on where transactions are happening to see if it is in one of these areas of the world that Made in the Free World is tracking.
So we now have an ability to say, “Look, some of the subcontractors or suppliers that you are buying from, when we follow the transaction data, we are sensing that there is perhaps some activity happening in a part of the world where there are known forced labor conditions.” So we now have an ability to bring them that transparency, which is one of the SDG goals that is there to help create fair and equal rights and equality from a labor conditions standpoint.
On ever-evolving expectations for CMOs:
You’re required to be so much more than a marketer; you really need to be a well-rounded business leader. You need to understand every facet of your company: what each functional area is working to achieve, how they measure success, what the future roadmap is for the company, the way in which your CEO—in my case, I have two CEOs now—the things that are important to them and the strategic counsel that you need to be in a position to be able to lend to them. And to take that role and truly lean in on the business strategy.
On B2B vs. B2C marketing:
Regardless of the job title you hold we're all human beings, and there is so much that has evolved today in what drives the buying process—in particular, that emotion. We need to be able to understand the feelings of our customers so that we can ensure that we're both marketing in the way that's going to be emotionally relevant to them in addition to speaking to the overall value and challenges that our technology helps solve within a company. I think the lines are beginning to blur even more, and that will continue to happen. As marketers at a B2B company, which has historically only targeted a decision maker, if you’re selling technology you only talked about the capabilities of a product. It’s broadened so much, and the direction it’s mostly gone into is to think like a consumer and therefore market like a consumer because that’s what the consumer population expects from us today.
On consumer data and trust:
We operate in a marketplace where there's a tremendous trust deficit. Consumer trust is at an all-time low, and a big part of what has driven that trust deficit is misuse of data. There are many companies over the past few years that have found themselves in headlines, due to this very fact, that they have misused data without the consent of their customers. We also have a tremendous gap in perception of experiences between consumers and brands they interact with.
There was a study by Gartner that showed 80% of CEOs believe that they’re delivering an exceptional customer experience whereas only 8% of consumers agree with that statement. So that has created a tremendous experiential gap that gives us an opportunity to look at data. When you read the research, consumers are more than willing to allow companies to use their data if it's going to enable the company to deliver them a better customer experience, but the customer has to be aware of that. Regulatory actions such as GDPR have enabled this privacy and regulation that’s been needed, and we’ve adhered to the highest level possible. Transparency needs to always be priority No. 1. And that always needs to be grounded in building an incredibly solid infrastructure to enable the protection of the data and to use it in a way that enhances the experience of the customer.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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