Marketing Briefing: How Fernando Machado’s long tenure at Burger King ‘absolutely broke the trend’

By Kristina Monllos

It’s rare for a CMO to stay with a company for more than a few years. Case in point: Marketing leaders spend just 41 months on average in the role, according to 2020 research data from executive recruitment firm Spencer Stuart.

That’s why Fernando Machado’s departure from Burger King, after nearly seven years, to be the chief marketer at Activision Blizzard, is so notable. Machado’s unusually long tenure at Burger King allowed him to become a champion of zany, oddball marketing. Machado had worked his way up to global chief marketing officer for Restaurant Brands International (Burger King’s parent company) and chains including Popeye’s and Tim Horton’s — which helped him become one of the most beloved CMOs in the industry.

“When you look at it compared to the rest of the C-Suite, the CMO is the least-tenured c-suite officer,” said Jay Pattisall, principal analyst at Forrester. “Fernando absolutely broke the trend with quite a long run. He is an exception.”

Few CMOs are given the freedom to work with agencies to come up with creative campaigns that resonate quite like Machado’s Moldy Whopper or Whopper Neutrality work. Doing so likely only comes with tenure and trust earned in a long-standing working relationship not only with other c-suite execs but agency partners, according to industry observers and agency execs. (Of course, not all of Machado’s Burger King campaigns were hits; most recently, a tweet highlighting International Women’s Day work was deleted after facing backlash.) With many CMOs only in the role for an average of 41 months, it’s uncommon to attribute breakout work that helps grow a brand to the position.

For some CMOs, having an impact on a brand is dependent on whether they’re prepared to make an agency change at the get-go. “Sometimes, they have a team they have already worked with and simply choose to move the business to a resource they know,” explained Nancy Hill, founder of Media Sherpas and former 4A’s president. “That can help them have an impact right away.”

Hill continued: “Other times, they go through an agency review process, which can take six months to a year, then they have to get the new agency up to speed and able to execute. You could be talking about as much as two years to really have an impact or see a change. By that time, they may only have another year left before they either choose to leave or the company gets tired of waiting for things to happen. It creates a terrible cycle for a brand as it then has to start all over again.”

That cycle and CMOs’ short tenure can lead to risk-aversion, explained Scott Harkey, co-founder and managing partner of full-service agency OH Partners, adding that risk-aversion can make it harder for marketers to make their brands more relevant via campaigns, particularly with limited budgets.

Industry observers and agency execs believe marketers need to find a way to take more control now rather than fearing being cut …read more

Source:: Digiday