The Evolving CMO Role: Why Kieran Flanagan Sees a Decline in Demand for Traditional CMOs

In a recent LinkedIn post, Kieran Flanagan discusses a significant shift he’s observing in the business world: the declining role of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Flanagan, co-founder of marketing agency Milkman, highlights that some founders are no longer hiring for this traditional C-suite position, opting instead to restructure their marketing departments. This trend, he explains, is particularly evident in B2B sectors, where CMO roles have seen a notable decrease in the past year.

Flanagan points to a fundamental misalignment between the evolving demands of marketing and the available talent pool. He elaborates on the challenges founders face when seeking a single leader to excel in both the ‘growth/demand’ and ‘brand/product’ aspects of marketing. This difficulty often leads to founders integrating brand responsibilities into the product team and demand generation into the sales team, thus bypassing the need for a dedicated CMO.

Founders’ Evolving Expectations

A key factor contributing to this shift, according to Flanagan, is the changing profile of founders themselves. He notes that a new generation of founders possesses a deeper, more hands-on understanding of marketing principles. Unlike previous generations who might have sought external validation on their marketing leaders’ capabilities, today’s founders often have strong opinions and a high bar for marketing performance.

Flanagan states:

“Founders have changed. The most common question I used to get from my founder network was “Is my marketing leader any good?” I still get asked that, but a new generation of founders has real takes on marketing; they’re in the weeds and have a very high bar for what they think marketing should be.”

This increased founder involvement means that potential marketing leaders are scrutinized more intensely, making it harder to fit the traditional CMO mold if they cannot demonstrate mastery across diverse marketing functions.

The Impact of AI and Specialization

The nature of marketing work itself has also transformed, with AI playing a significant role. Flanagan argues that AI has pushed the two core halves of marketing—demand generation and brand building—to their respective extremes. Demand generation has become increasingly technical, requiring specialized skills in data analysis, automation, and performance marketing. Simultaneously, brand and product marketing demand a heightened focus on narrative, positioning, and storytelling to cut through the noise.

He elaborates on this point:

“AI pushed both halves of marketing to the extremes. Growth/demand is more technical than ever. Brand/product marketing has to be better at narrative and positioning than ever. It’s so hard to spike at both ends.”

This specialization makes it exceptionally challenging for any single individual to possess deep expertise in both areas, let alone lead a team that does. The rising expectations, fueled by technological advancements and market complexities, have outpaced the development of a commensurate talent pipeline.

The Flaw in Splitting Marketing Teams

While some companies opt to split marketing functions, Flanagan cautions that this is not a sustainable long-term solution. He believes that a truly great marketing leader’s strength lies in their ability to identify, hire, and retain exceptional talent capable of excelling in both demand and brand functions. However, this requires the leader themselves to have a robust understanding of both domains.

Flanagan expresses concern over the alternative:

“But the talent pool of a sales leader who can hire an exceptional demand leader and retain them, and a CPO who can hire an exceptional brand/product marketing leader and retain them, is even smaller. You’ve just doubled the problem. And now you’re building a marketing team with no shared quality bar.”

He further emphasizes the interconnectedness of these functions, using the example of paid advertising. According to Flanagan, large-scale paid campaigns must be tightly aligned with brand positioning to ensure memorability and impact beyond the immediate ad spend.

Advice for Marketers and Founders

Given this landscape, Flanagan offers specific advice. For marketers who possess the rare ability to excel in both demand and brand, he suggests this is an opportune moment to leverage their skills and command higher compensation.

For founders, his recommendation is pragmatic:

“If you’re a founder: not hiring a CMO beats hiring the wrong CMO. Hold the bar, build a keep-warm list of your dream hires, take them on as advisors, angel investors, etc, and wait for the person who meets what you need.”

In essence, Flanagan posits that the CMO role is not disappearing but is currently in a state of decline due to a widening gap between elevated expectations and the available talent. The future, he implies, belongs to leaders who can navigate this complexity or to highly specialized individuals who can bridge the functional divides.