Interview with Melanie Nicholas, fractional Chief Marketing Officer

At Carter Murray, we connect leaders in the marketing world to exciting businesses across all sectors – from start-ups and scale-ups to established brands.

In today’s economic climate, many businesses are looking for strategic marketing expertise without the high costs and long-term commitment of a permanent CMO.

Our own Wendy Gray sat down with Melanie Nicholas, fractional CMO, to learn more about her role and what advice she has for those in the industry.

Melanie has worked for big corporations (such as NBCUniversal and ODEON Cinemas Group) who’ve wanted to leverage their global reach. She’s also worked at a small start-up/founder business wanting to scale (Roasting Plant Coffee) and a private equity business (Terra Firma) looking to transform its companies to grow or sell.

Her career success has been in the entertainment, film, leisure, hotel and hospitality sectors.

She’s now a fractional CMO offering both established and scale-up businesses her time and expertise on a project or contract basis.

Can you tell us about your role as fractional Chief Marketing Officer? How does this work?

I get approached by companies looking to access my marketing leadership experience and expertise, without the cost or commitment of a full time CMO.

Sometimes I’m asked to inspire and train an existing marketing team to a new level or I’m asked to look at capabilities of the current team, recruiting in additional roles where needed for growth.

I’ve also been brought into companies for transformation projects that the existing marketing team simply hasn’t got the bandwidth or skillset to focus on at that time.

Why do you think the fractional CMO role has emerged?

Fractional CMOs work on a contract basis, allowing businesses to scale their marketing efforts according to their needs. This flexibility enables companies to dial up their marketing investment as and when they have the funds to support it.

With marketing channels now requiring different specialists to effectively plan and run them, the role of the CMO to bring this activity together has never been more important.

Brand marketing needs to be consistent across all channels (e.g. website, CRM, social media, paid advertising) and it’s the CMO who takes that vital overview to ensure all content and channels are working in harmony with each other for maximum effect. All companies need this role and smaller companies can now afford it by going for a fractional CMO.

Fractional CMOs bring extensive business experience with them, having worked within multiple businesses ideally across several industry sectors. This breadth of knowledge means they implement best practice and proven strategies, without the trial-and-error phase.

A fractional CMO can help build and mentor a marketing team, ensuring the company has the right talent in place for long-term success.

And as fractional CMOs are not embedded in company politics, they can usually provide unbiased, data-driven insights to inform the exec team’s decisions.

What skills and experience do fractional CMOs need for success?

• Proven marketing success, preferably in a few different companies and industry sectors
• A well rounded marketing career that has exposed you to all aspects of marketing (all four Ps: price, place, promotion and product)
• Ability to understand customer behaviour and preferences is critical. Be prepared to conduct new market research, analyse data and show that marketing campaigns are resonating with target audiences
• Big picture planning as well as the ability to execute quickly – be able to operate in the boardroom and on the shop floor
• Great people leadership skills with lots of EQ and humility – you need to make connections with your team quickly
• Speed, flexibility and agility – nobody wants a one-size-fits-all approach. Every company will be asking you to do something different – and they will want results fast!
• Listen to the exec team and the marketing team and make sure the two groups are aligned
• Effectively communicate marketing strategies and results to executive teams, stakeholders and investors. Clear and persuasive communication helps secure buy-in and ensures marketing alignment with business priorities

What benefits are there of hiring a fractional CMO?

Businesses benefit from access to:

• The best marketing leaders for less money to lead their marketing charge
• A senior player with different ideas and ways of doing things to strengthen their existing exec team
• A proven network of great specialists and agencies that the fractional CMO will bring with them

What are the challenges of being a fractional CMO?

You will face different challenges from different clients – and the skill is being able to adapt and dance to what’s needed.

Sometimes the work will be high level and strategic and at other times it will require getting stuck in and maybe doing tactical work that feels more junior.

Time is always against you! You will never have enough of it and managing it well is crucial. You can’t give one client all your time.

Being really clear what needs to be done and what can be done and delegating well, will be key to your success.

What advice would you give people who are trying to move into a fractional CMO role?

• Be prepared to challenge, but take everyone on the journey with you
• Be honest with yourself – are you happy to be pulled in many different directions?
• Consider if you have the necessary skills and experience to face multiple clients at a senior level
• Make sure you have a great network – you may need to pull in favours from people or ask for their advice
• Market yourself well – this sounds obvious but you need to do it all the time
• Have a light touch but get results fast – you need people to work with you not against you and haven’t got a lot of time to make this happen