The Uberisation of the Chief Marketing Officer

2,82,000. 

That’s the number of LinkedIn users who have adopted the Fractional CMO moniker as of January 2024. Of those, about 17,000 reside in India.

To compare, globally, there are about 3 lakh LinkedIn users employed as chief marketing officers (CMOs), while in India, there are around 19,000 professionals working in the same capacity. 

It is striking that the ratio of CMOs to fractional CMOs is almost equal. So, why are CMOs embracing the fractional model?

But first, who is a fractional CMO?

Fractional CMO 

noun 

/ˈfrakʃən(ə)l/ /ˌsiː.emˈəʊ/

A person who splits their time across 2-3 companies at a time offering marketing expertise to small to mid-sized companies that don’t have the financial resources to hire a full-time CMO. The fractional CMO ideally works in a build-operate-transfer mode whereby they help a start-up set up its marketing function and might even assist with hiring a CMO who can take over from them. 

Usage: How is a fractional CMO different from a marketing consultant?

A fractional CMO is part of a brand’s senior leadership team and works to deliver growth whereas a consultant solves a specific business/marketing problem. 

Start-ups in the Seed to Series B stage of their journey could benefit from a fractional CMO. These brands are possibly running on a tight budget but need the expertise of a professional with two decades of experience running and building brands. 

It all boils down to: Why own it when you can rent it?

And thus began the uberisation of the CMO. 

Becoming fractional 

For several mid-career professionals who choose the fractional path, the drive stems from the desire to work on exciting problems and when they notice that they have achieved what they set out to do at their place of employment.   

Manu Prasad, formerly a CMO at a fintech company until September 2023, has trademarked the term ‘Six-month CMO’. And what’s his pitch? 

“Efforts are good. Output is great. But what matters is the outcome. That’s why I built a structured, time-bound, outcome-based plan to set you up for brand and business growth” — his website reads. 

“The 6-month CMO framework is meant to demonstrate that I am serious about achieving certain outcomes for the brand within the 6-month time frame,” says Manu. And the ultimate measure of success for Manu is to fire himself at the end of six months and find himself a new gig. 

He chose the title fractional CMO over marketing consultant to communicate the differentiation and for the term’s distinctiveness. “Marketing consultant could mean a lot of things and is a nebulous idea. CMO clearly defines to founders of start-ups the expertise I bring. Fractional indicates that it is not a full-time position,” he explains.    

In the case of Samriddh Dasgupta, ex-CMO who quit his job at a pet care brand in October 2023, the title was almost bestowed upon him. He works with clients at the intersection of business and marketing. It was in a meeting with a venture capital fund that the brand referred to Dasgupta as its fractional CMO.

“VCs realise the value that a full-time CMO brings and aren’t averse to the idea of a fractional CMO,” he says. For startups, marketing and distribution are money guzzlers. Almost 30% of funds raised by a startup are channelled to marketing. “VCs and other investors would like to be assured that a startup would do justice to capital infusion — that’s where the fractional CMO steps in.”  

In January 2017, Doorva Bahuguna made a shift from working full-time for a large company to focusing on problem-solving for brands and businesses. Instead of exclusively committing to one company, she divided her time among two to three companies in CXO roles. Initially, she didn't use the term 'fractional' to describe her work, which she adopted later.

Bahuguna avoided labels like 'consultant' or 'part-time' because they didn't convey the depth of her commitment to brands. She viewed 'part-time' as suggesting a lack of full dedication, which wasn't the case for her. She defined the scope of a fractional CXO as dedicating only a portion of her time while delivering substantial results.

In 2021, Bahuguna encountered a marketer in the US who identified as a fractional CMO, describing a role closely aligned with her own. This encounter led her to adopt the term 'fractional' to describe her work.

In the same year, she updated her LinkedIn profile to reflect her role as a fractional CXO, working with various brands as a fractional business head, CBO, or CMO.

The need-gap 

Deep Bajaj, founder of Sirona, a feminine hygiene brand, did not hire a full-time CMO until three years ago. The brand was established in 2014. He ran the brand for seven years without an in-house CMO. 

And this is likely the story for several other startups out in the market. According to Bajaj, a start-up that is not flush with funds and one where the founders themselves are not adept at marketing could hire marketing executives who can carry out plans and have the marketing team report to the fractional CMO.

The reason, he says, Sirona could run without a full-time CMO until three years ago, was that most of the marketing function was about performing specific tasks as opposed to planning for long-term business goals. 

“Typically startups hire a Head of Growth and a Head of Brand (8-12 years of experience) but the founder may not have the operational expertise to tie these two roles together,” explains Manu. Startups tend to have lean marketing teams consisting of 2-3 young executives who might have 5-8 years of experience. They could also have more junior executives who run social media for the brand — a fractional CMO could offer some valuable guidance and steer the executives in the direction that is apt for the brand.     

The demand for fractional CMOs is not a new one. What has changed in the last couple of years is the supply of such talent, observes, Shiv Agrawal, MD, ABC Consultants, an executive search and talent advisory firm. According to him, there is now a crop of highly-talented and skilled individuals who want out of the rat race to fulfil the demand that has always been there.

Bajaj feels that if a founder is a great storyteller, then the need for an in-house CMO does not necessarily arise in the early stages. Both Aman Gupta and Vineeta Singh of boAt and Sugar Cosmetics are prime examples of founders with a knack for storytelling and marketing, he points out.   

The fractional CMO could help at various levels in an organisation. A global fractional CMO with expertise in tapping new markets feels that brands are making the mistake of using a fractional CMO in the capacity of a consultant to define their digital marketing activities. 

She says brands should use their fractional CMO to define their go-to-market strategy and market entry strategy and get the professional to help with course correction if needed. 

Agrawal has been noticing that it is not just the marketing function that is receiving the fractional treatment. "Chief human resource officers are also being hired on a part-time basis at legacy, promoter-run businesses that are trying to professionalise their systems."

However, a chief growth officer or a chief financial officer are roles that aren't receiving the fractional treatment because those are "very critical" roles that need full-time attention, he observes.

The logistics

All the fractional executives cited in this report broadly have similar definitions for the job they do. Simply put — they prioritise business goals. 

Bahuguna recommends a 12-18 month duration for fractional engagements, following a "build, operate, and transfer" model. Beyond this period, she advises companies to consider hiring a full-time CXO.

Bajaj of Sirona feels that if marketing is a core function for the brand, then the CMO should be in-house, full-time as soon as the brand can afford it. 

Fractional CMOs charge by the hour and might cost brands about one-third to half of that of a full-time CMO. Lastly, Bahuguna emphasises the need for clear scope and boundary definitions when taking on such assignments to achieve optimal results and prevent scope creep.

Dasgupta who works on a different remuneration model accepts equity in exchange for his time or his compensation is linked to revenue generated by the company. 

How should one split their time across clients? It could be tempting to take on several projects at once, but to do justice to the job at hand, Dasgupta is very clear that one should not work with more than three companies simultaneously because the effort that goes into a project is the same, irrespective of the remuneration.  

People like Manu, Dasgupta and Bahuguna are the ones defining fractionality and everything it comes to embody. It is in vogue now. Manu says adopting this title now is also geared at gaining an early advantage.

The same bunch is also concerned about the term being diluted and misinterpreted by a section of the fraternity. Consequently, those who are using it for what it truly means, have a lot of responsibility to not only deliver on their promise but also educate the community.

Like the great philosopher Uncle Ben said: With great designation, comes great responsibility.