Discussion on:
Message 4 of 1
I hope that the point isn't being missed here with the "C" title (based on Mr. Wilde's comment). Call it whatever you want. The bottom line is that yes, there is a need for this *role*. Does the title matter? Some companies have Chief Marketing Officers whereas others dub them Vice President of Marketing. Just because "C" is in the title, that doesn't mean that they automatically get or need a seat on the board, it simply signifies that there is in fact a top level professional where the buck stops for specific functions within an organization. So, forget about the "C" level and think more in terms of whether or not this *role* should exist within companies...a dedicated focus on social media activities, recognizing that they do in fact stretch beyond other traditional marketing and communications functions and that a particular knowledge base is required to effectively utilize these tools to their maximum capacity. I think the bigger question in play is whether or not there is a need for a *new role* or that existing marketing and communications folks need to adapt and realize that their *roles* are changing and social media activities are replacing some of the older ways of marketing and communicating the company.
Personally, I believe this will ultimately fall under the umbrella of the CMO (or whatever the head of marketing's title is at the given organization) as part of what they do and have some specific professionals within the marketing and communications group handle social media, much the same as companies have folks who handle media relations and analysts relations (sometimes separate, sometimes the same person).
Time will tell to determine if there will be room within organizations to add social media professionals to the fold or the old dogs will be forced to learn new tricks along the way. Probably a bit of both...
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