ABSTRACT
The people and teams with which the CMO surrounds him or herself are a critical component of their success. So much of what they do to steward a brand and a business is reliant on having the right talent, the right mindset and a passion for the business. That means that the marketing team, the marketer's peers and the marketer's agency partners all need to be aligned. In addition to managing down, up and across, CMOs are more thoughtful about their agency resources than ever before. Some have consolidated, creating a shorter roster of partners who have a more meaningful role to play on the business. For example, Nigel Burton's team within the WPP Group announced in July 2012 that it would merge WPP resources and agency teams from across its network into one dedicated and exclusive team to work with Colgate. This team has re-branded as a single entity called Red Fuse Communications.
