The revolving door that connects corner offices to executive recruiters has been spinning with particular velocity this week, as a fresh round of chief marketing officers settled into new seats at Gap, Saucony, Fanatics, and several other companies that have concluded, as companies periodically do, that what they really need is different leadership in the marketing suite.
The game of musical chairs at the top of corporate marketing departments has become something of a permanent condition in American business, where the average tenure of a chief marketing officer remains notably shorter than that of other members of the executive committee. (One might observe that this says something about either the difficulty of the job or the patience of the people who hire for it, though which interpretation applies tends to depend on whether one is currently employed.)
Gap, which has been on a rather extended journey of reinvention under its parent company's ongoing turnaround efforts, added to its leadership ranks, as did Saucony, the running shoe brand that is part of Wolverine World Wide. Fanatics, the sports merchandise giant that has been expanding aggressively into new categories, also brought in new marketing leadership.
The reshuffling arrives at a moment when marketing executives are being asked to demonstrate fluency in an ever-expanding lexicon of capabilities — artificial intelligence applications, creator economy partnerships, and the sort of cultural attunement that cannot, it turns out, be delegated entirely to consultants.
Whether these new appointments will prove more durable than their predecessors is, of course, unknowable at the moment of announcement, when optimism flows as freely as the coffee at the welcome reception.
The chairs, meanwhile, continue to spin.
Original story published in adweek.com: "Marketers on the Move: Hires at Gap, Saucony, Fanatics, and More"