The Chief Digital Officer: Fad Or Future?

In the age of the customer, the importance of supporting customer touchpoints has shifted to the center of strategic planning. Firms that are winning the customer experience race are aiming to provide their customers with consistent, personalized, and contextually relevant interactions across all touchpoints. These firms create digitally enhanced, data-driven customer experiences that unlock new sources of customer value. And because successfully leveraging digital technology requires deep understanding of the nuances of digital marketing, eCommerce, customer experience design, and technology, traditional organization structures inside and outside of marketing are ill-equipped to optimize the business to take full advantage of digital transformation. As a result, CEOs, CMOs, and CIOs must decide who among them will lead their organization on the path to digital success, or if a dedicated role is required. Should it be the chief marketing officer, the chief information officer, the chief customer officer, or perhaps a new chief digital officer? For CMOs, the answer to this question will have a material impact on their role in coming years.