How To Get The C-Suite Together For An Integrated Marketing Strategy

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While it cannot be denied that AI is forcing marketers to rewrite the book on SEO, it’s also becoming clear that AI search helps to boost brands’ visibility. In the 12 months since Google established AI Overviews—which give users a brief text summary to answer their queries, complete with hyperlinks to source material—search impressions for websites have increased by 49%, new research from BrightEdge found. And while it’s true that clickthroughs are down by nearly 30%, users are now able to learn more about products—and even get a recommendation about them from Google—at the beginning of their search process.

Essentially, Google’s AI Overviews make influence and visibility the most important aspects of search. And it’s no longer about having a high PageRank score. BrightEdge found that 89% of all citations in AI Overviews come from outside the top 100 organic rankings. Since an update in March, there’s been a 400% increase in citations from sources that are ranked from 21 to 30, and a 200% increase from those in positions 31 to 100. The BrightEdge report states that content that can answer questions or explain complex issues and common follow-ups tends to get pulled into the AI Overview.

AI Overviews are changing user behavior as well, the study shows, with people asking more complex questions. For example: “How to increase my solar panel efficiency during winter.” Simple queries that users once brought to Google, like “best running shoes 2024” or “Nike vs Hoka,” are down 60.5% and 14.5%, respectively. And AI Overviews, which don’t come up for every search, appear for these longer queries. Search in topics of healthcare, education, B2B tech and insurance trigger the most AI overviews, and users are typing in more technical terms to get precise answers.

As AI Overviews become more common in Google search, it seems like content optimization might be the best strategy for marketers. Websites need more than just keywords, they need the context that users want. And even if that context doesn’t lead to clicks, people will see what your brand has to offer—and might be more likely to circle back and learn more later.

Everything in business is becoming more collaborative, including marketing. I talked to Sherry Smith, executive managing director of the Americas at commerce intelligence platform Criteo, about bringing the rest of the C-suite in for marketing collaboration. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter.

STREAMING

Entertainment powerhouse Disney is bringing a long-awaited upgrade—in both content and price—to its ESPN streaming service. On Tuesday, the company announced it will launch a streaming service featuring all of the content on all of its ESPN channels in the fall, at a price of $29.99 a month. The new service will simply be called ESPN, and will have access to programming across the networks, including events and games for most professional, college and championship-level sports. It replaces ESPN+, a streaming service that launched in 2018 and features select live events and games, but not the live content on the main ESPN channel or major events.

The price of the new service is a step up from ESPN+, which is $11.99 a month—though the revamped ESPN streaming service will have a similar package available at the same price. When the new ESPN streaming service officially launches, subscribers will be able to bundle it with Disney’s other major streaming apps: Disney+ and Hulu.

Netflix is giving its user interface its biggest overhaul in more than a decade, writes Forbes senior contributor David Bloom. The streaming giant says the new interface, which has been compared to that of TikTok, is easier to search and provides faster and more personalized recommendations. It also does more to notify users when live events are starting, and includes enhanced AI search capabilities, allowing users to look for things to watch based on vibes. The interface will be rolling out to users in the next few weeks.

BRANDS + MESSAGING

When Nike named company veteran Elliott Hill as its new CEO last fall, it was clear the company had some work to do to get its image and market share back on track. Hill quickly put in place a strategic plan, called “Win Now,” to rebuild the company’s brand and product lines. Last week, he announced several leadership and structural changes as Heidi O’Neill, the company’s president of consumer, product and brand, announced her retirement, writes Forbes senior contributor Pamela Danziger. O’Neill’s former responsibilities will be split between functions, giving Hill more direct oversight of product development, marketing and growth initiatives.

Amy Montagne, who previously led Nike Women, is taking on O’Neill’s former role and is responsible for leadership across the consumer and sports functions. Danziger writes that this promotion suggests a priority to grow the athletic company’s women’s business—which saw its revenues fall to $8.5 billion last year, compared to $20.9 billion for the men’s business. According to PYMNTS, women made up 40% of all Nike customers and represented $9 billion in revenue in 2023.

Other personnel changes include promoting Phil McCartney from vice president of footwear to chief innovation, design and product officer; boosting CMO Nicole Graham to an executive vice president position, and making strategic advisor to the CEO Tom Clarke the new chief growth initiatives officer.

IN THE NEWS

What’s in a name? For Pope Leo XIV, a lot of thought about his intended personal brand went into his choice. The Chicago-born pope, who is the first ever to hail from the U.S. and was previously known as Robert Francis Prevost, told cardinals that he chose his name to align himself with the values of Pope Leo XIII, who defended workers’ rights and fair wages when he held the post from 1878 to 1903. Pope Leo XIII authored an encyclical that encouraged labor unions and defended the working class as industrialization took hold. Now, the new pope said, the Catholic church and global society are dealing with another sort of industrial revolution: one that is the result of AI, writes Forbes senior contributor Leslie Katz.

“In our own day, the church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor,” Pope Leo XIV said.

What the new pope will do in terms of social justice and AI remains to be seen. However, one thing is clear: Social media loves him. After his election was announced late last week, social media memes about a Chicago pope—riffing on Chicago accents, sports teams, hot dogs, pizza and attitudes—were everywhere, writes Forbes senior contributor Dani Di Placido.

ON MESSAGE

How To Bring The C-Suite In For An Integrated Marketing Strategy

As the times change, the way that businesses view marketing is changing, too. Some C-suites are taking more interest in marketing, bringing new collaboration and information to the CMO’s domain. I talked to Sherry Smith, executive managing director of the Americas at commerce intelligence platform Criteo, about these collaborations and how they are impacting marketing. This conversation has been edited for length, clarity and continuity.

How does all of this interest, collaboration and participation from the rest of the C-suite change what CMOs are doing and are bringing forward?

Smith: You’ve got to have an integrated marketing strategy. That is a big shift to make because it’s requiring brands to think about how they’re structured and how they break down their own silos. You think about an agency model, it’s an FTE model, but yet there are all of these retailers to work across. How do you do that effectively? And how do you really think about omnichannel? It’s not a mandate to just do search. You’ve really got to be more of that commerce expert.

Strategy’s got to change and is changing. The structures are changing. The models, and how people get paid, and how they work is changing and elevating to more of a generalist versus just a specialist.

When you think about that customer journey, the way a customer shops is totally different than it used to be. [It might be] they’re getting influenced from social, or they’re going to a retailer site. It is very fluid in how the customer is shopping, so your strategy has to be consistent and very geared toward that customer. You’ve got to show that and know that customer. That’s requiring retailers to think about how they leverage and utilize their data differently. It’s requiring brands to do the same.

In some cases, integrating that data is [showing] the way that the creative is being utilized. Think about the introduction of AI, and more of that precision marketing. It’s touching every single facet. It’s such a fun space to be in because it’s constantly evolving, but it’s getting better and better and better. And I would say advertising has become even more welcome because it’s not your typical ad. It is a much more friendly environment to be [in] now.

We’re in a time of a more uncertain economy. Does this new C-suite alignment help preserve the budget allocated for marketing?

What we have seen in the past and what we’re seeing now is that marketers tend to shift toward performance-driven outcomes they can rely on. Maybe it’s less at the top of the marketing funnel, and more toward what they know is going to drive that true performance. At the end of the day, they’ve got to make sure that every dollar is working hard and that they’re seeing that ROI. Smart marketers are realizing now is not the time to pull back entirely. It’s the time to push forward on those strategies that are going to deliver the outcomes that you need.

There’s going to be a real critical look at how those budgets do get allocated in a timeline. For us, we see it as positive. We are taking a really careful balance of that and trying to make sure we’re giving as clear guidance as we can and understand the objectives. I think you’re going to see very large companies continue to press forward, versus pull away.

What kind of advice would you give to a CMO who is trying to get this sort of alignment and C-suite collaboration started at their company?

I think that it’s smart for [CMOs] to become students. I know that’s hard to do when you’re a CMO, but there’s so much available in the industry to go and tap into—whether that’s through a mentor, through working with the chief digital officer, different certifications that you can do on your own that no one even has to see that you’re doing, just to learn.

We get asked quite often: Can the team from Criteo come in and educate our C-suite? Provide an elevated view on what’s happening in the commerce space for everybody together.

I think it’s a time to dig into your partnerships, leverage that partner for more learning. Really become a student, get that collaboration across your C-suite. Don’t just do it individually.

COMINGS + GOINGS

• Convenience store chain Love’s Travel Stops selected Patrick McLean as its first Chief Marketing Officer. McLean recently worked as senior vice president and CMO for Walgreens, and succeeds vice president of marketing Dave Frankenfield.
• Travel technology company Sabre appointed Jennifer Catto as executive vice president and chief marketing officer. Catto has held marketing leadership positions with Travelport and Travelocity, and has been recognized as a Cannes Lions Award nominee, as well as an AdAge Brand Leader Award winner.
• The 4As, or the American Association of Advertising Agencies, announced that Justin Thomas-Copeland will lead the organization as CEO. Thomas-Copeland will succeed Marla Kaplowitz, who is stepping down on May 30. Thomas-Copeland most recently founded and led marketing consultancy firm KINDRD Global.

STRATEGIES + ADVICE

It’s nice to have people who always agree with what you say, but as an overly compliant ChatGPT upgrade recently showed—it praised people for making questionable decisions like saving a toaster at the expense of live animals in the classic trolley problem—it can be dangerous when nobody questions your thinking. The same applies to leadership: It’s important to surround yourself with people who might think differently.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is a company veteran in every sense of the term, getting his start at the e-commerce giant when it was just an online bookstore in 1997. He explained why he’s stayed so long in his 2024 shareholder letter: the cultural fit. Here’s how you can evaluate whether a company is a cultural match for you.

QUIZ

Which TV network has led daytime TV programming viewership for 39 consecutive years?

A. ABC

B. CBS

C. NBC

D. Fox

See if you got the answer right here.