Raisin Bread by MarketerHire - Is Starbucks killing the CMO role? ☕

Starbucks Stirs Question: Is the CMO Role Obsolete?

Starbucks is dropping its global CMO role in a move that redefines the company’s global marketing structure.

What happened? Brady Brewer, who formerly held the global CMO position, has been promoted to the CEO of Starbucks International—overseeing regional teams and licensing partners.

The goal with this personnel shift: Create clearer regional leadership with market-specific CEOs working alongside local marketing teams. Starbucks still plans to hire a global brand creative leader reporting to the CEO—a move that industry experts suggest aligns with a "think global, act local" approach.

The takeaway: This move potentially reframes "marketing" as an element of the broader "growth" category, opening paths for CMOs to advance to CEO roles.

Read more →

Promotions and Layoffs Are Both Increasing in Martech

Last week, MarTech.org released the 2024 MarTech Salary and Career Survey…and shared some contrasting trends.

The good: One-third of surveyed martech professionals said they were promoted in the past year. Plus, the overall median salary for martech professionals is a healthy $128,643. (FYI, the national average salary in the U.S. at the end of 2023 was $59,384.)

The bad: At the same time, 56% of respondents said that employee churn increased last year—and 31% of that group said the churn was involuntary, meaning layoffs or terminations.

…and the ugly: In the most shocking stat from the report, the median salary for women below the C-suite level was 35% less than the median salary for men.

TL;DR: There are good opportunities for advancement and higher compensation in martech roles right now. But cost-cutting seems to be hitting martech teams hard—and women are taking the brunt of it.

Read more →

LinkedIn Is Testing a Short-Form Video Feed

Following the trend set by other social media giants, LinkedIn is beta testing a short-form video feed within its iOS app.

What does it look like? Members with access can tap on a video tab to view the TikTok-like, full-screen, vertical feed of short-form videos with shortened post captions. The test allows users to scroll through, like, comment, and share these LinkedIn video posts.

Experts predict mixed reviews. While the feed demonstrates LinkedIn’s ability to innovate, it might blur LinkedIn’s biggest value prop—professional networking—with yet another social video app. And previous failed tests like LinkedIn Stories (piloted in 2020; dropped in 2021) suggest this video push may not stick around.

Read more →

Anonymous Digital Buyer Behavior Is Reshaping B2B Marketing

75% of B2B marketers say it's taking longer for buyers to commit to purchase decisions, up from 67% who said the same the year before, per a new study from Forrester.

So, why is this happening? Anonymous digital behavior is becoming much more common—buyers prefer to stay anonymous for longer and avoid salespeople until they're ready to buy. 

What can you do about it? Experts suggest adopting a "lifecycle revenue marketing" approach. This means orchestrating engagement across the entire buyer lifecycle, sharing insights from both marketing interactions and sales, and coordinating efforts from acquisition through upsell and retention.

Read more →