People use CMO and VP of Marketing like they mean the same thing. They do not. I have held the top marketing seat and built the teams under it, so here is how I actually split the two.
The CMO sets the direction
The CMO owns the big calls: the brand, which markets to chase, the top-level budget, and the KPIs the whole department gets measured against. That seat sits next to the CEO and the rest of the C-suite, and its job is to tie marketing to where the company is headed over the next few years.
The VP of Marketing runs the execution
The VP lives in the day to day. They own the campaigns, the calendar, the vendors, and the team that ships the work. In smaller companies this is the Marketing Director or Manager. As the company grows, the title grows with the responsibility.
The simplest way to hold it
The CMO decides where the ship is going. The VP makes sure it sails. If you are small and watching cash, you usually do not need both. You need the strategy set, which a CMO can do even part-time, and one strong person to run it day to day.
If you want that senior marketing thinking without a full-time hire, that is exactly what I do as a fractional CMO. If you would rather just talk it through, book a quick call.
