CMO 2.0: Beyond marketing

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Hello Spark reader,

If you’ve ever felt like marketing is still fighting for its seat at the table—or wondered why—it’s time to meet the (O)CMO.

I first came across Elliott Bundy, our guest contributor this week, through Vivace’s participation in Financial Narrative. As a founding board member, Elliott has emerged as a thoughtful voice on the evolving role of marketing leadership—especially in how CMOs can step beyond traditional boundaries to operate more like COOs and CEOs.

His piece challenges a lingering mindset and offers a refreshing, grounded take on how marketing can (and should) lead the business, not just support it. We’re proud to feature it here in Spark.

Best wishes to you for a productive and fulfilling rest of your week.

—joel

The (O)CMO Mindset: Operating Beyond Marketing

Guest essay by Elliott Bundy

Spend enough time in marketing and communications circles and you’ll inevitably hear the existential lament: “Why don’t they get us? Why aren’t we at the table? Don’t they get we aren’t just in charge of making things pretty?” It gets even louder in professional associations, where the conversation can spiral into a self-perpetuating loop of doubt and exclusion.

I’ve never really had time for that.

Yes, I was incredibly fortunate early in my career to work under a CEO who valued communications, marketing, and brand from the start of any strategic conversation—big or small. But I also remember one day, in that same company, when my manager had finally had enough of his own “proof gap.” He printed a year’s worth of our team’s work—every campaign, speech, press release, and brand asset—and laid it all out across the entire boardroom table. And this was a very large boardroom.

The CEO walked in, glanced at the landscape of paper, and asked, “What exactly is this trying to prove?” Then he walked right back out.

Because he knew what was on that table was output, but not value. Value came from the ways our work helped operate the company, not from how many artifacts we could stack in our corner.

Marketing and communications don’t sit outside the business. They are the business. Just as much as finance, HR, strategy, or business development.

And yet, marketers (meant here to include all the creatively strategic elements of a company, including comms, marketing, and brand teams) often find themselves questioning where they fit, asking why they aren’t at the table, or scrambling to justify their existence with dashboards and any quantifiable metric they can find. Not that anyone gets to escape proving ROI—I love a well-done dashboard as much as the next person. It has its place.

But despite all that effort, the self-doubt—or the treatment of the function as “less than crucial”—somehow always creeps back in.

That’s where I find clarity and confidence in the idea of the CMO acting as an operator; in the same way a COO or CEO operates, with a sense of ownership, strategic input, and self-awareness that comes from truly running the business. The (O)CMO isn’t just a rebrand of the function; it’s a reframing of what modern marketing leadership actually looks like.

There are a few core attributes I believe the (O)CMO brings to the table that set them apart:

The (O)CMO is an operator first. They don’t just run campaigns, they embed strategy into execution. Their job isn’t to make the brand look good. It’s to make sure the business is good and then communicate that with clarity, consistency, and credibility. That shift changes everything.

Then there’s the business narrative. Every company has one, whether it’s being shaped intentionally or not. Narrative is a shared responsibility across the C-suite, but the (O)CMO owns it—not in a spin-it-until-it-sells way, but in a tell-it-true-and-make-it-resonate way. Strategy becomes visible. Wins become momentum. The market and the internal team know exactly what the company is building and why it matters.

The (O)CMO also understands that trust isn’t a PR line; it’s a business metric. Spin breaks trust. Authenticity builds it. That means telling the truth. Owning mistakes. Listening and responding with meaningful action. Authentic communication builds stronger teams, more loyal customers, and greater investor confidence. That’s not just good ethics, it’s good business.

They lead through teams, not around them. The (O)CMO doesn’t micromanage. They delegate not to offload, but to empower—giving people room to lead, stumble, and grow, while providing clarity, coaching, and support. That’s how you unlock potential and create a ripple effect of ownership and innovation.

Connection is part of the operator’s toolkit, too. It’s not culture fluff, it’s strategic infrastructure. Through intentional onboarding, mentorship, and cross-functional collaboration, the (O)CMO builds teams that stay, grow, and win together. And they know their team sees the entire field of play more clearly than almost any other function. That makes it their duty to create connection and alignment where others can’t or won’t.

Because the best teams, and the best businesses, aren’t just productive—they’re connected.

And finally, the (O)CMO looks inward.

It’s not enough to lead others well if we’re not leading ourselves with the same rigor. That means owning your personal narrative, knowing when it’s time to stay or move on, and having the courage to bet on yourself when it matters most. The operator mentality isn’t just about business performance—it’s about personal clarity and conviction.

So yes, marketing is the business. And the (O)CMO owns that reality—with a mindset grounded in strategy, trust, leadership, and self-awareness.

It’s not a title. But it is a way of operating. And it changes everything.

Elliott Bundy is an advisor and board member focused on strategy, growth, marketing, brand positioning, and communications. He brings deep experience helping organizations define and amplify their value, with a particular emphasis on aligning brand and business strategy for long-term growth.

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Thanks for joining us this week. Anything we missed? Something we should include next week? Send us your shout-outs and strong opinions to include in next week’s edition at [email protected]. 

Spark is a production of Vivace, a global B2B creative studio and consultancy that helps businesses drive meaningful brand and commercial impact. Get in touch if you’d like to chat with any of the team. Have a great week ahead.