Doing Marketing vs. Being a Great Marketer | Bennie Johnson, AMA episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 8, 2026 · 59 MIN

Doing Marketing vs. Being a Great Marketer | Bennie Johnson, AMA

from Building Better CMOs and Marketing Leaders · host MMA Global / LightningPod

Full transcript CMOs are " really good at the M part," says Bennie Johnson, the CEO of the American Marketing Association. "We're really good at the marketing part. We struggle with the 'Chief' and the 'Officer.'" Why is that? Some possible reasons include the lack of professional certification for great marketers, the short tenures CMOs often have before moving on to the next job, or the fact that — according to the Marketing + Media Alliance's research —  30 percent of marketing capabilities sit outside the role of CMO. "We need to take a full push that we are unapologetically leading the business," Bennie says. "An organization's marketers are driving growth. We don't get credit for the money, but we get credit for the expense." Today on Building Better CMOs, Bennie and Greg talk about bridging research and practice through executive–academic collaboration, emerging trends from the AMA's own research, and why Bennie believes "adjectives matter" when you talk about marketing. Plus: Why you are never the target audience. 00:00 Introduction 03:47 Inside the AMA's Big Tent 08:22 Future Trends in Marketing 10:58 Portfolio Careers and Fractional CMOs 22:07 Career Advice and Collecting Art 29:20 You Are Not the Target Audience 31:25 Where Academic Research Meets Practice 36:05 The Boardroom Leadership Gap 38:16 Why Marketing Loses Control 48:23 No Licensure, No Gatekeepers Bennie's LinkedIn American Marketing Association This episode was produced and edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LightningPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Building Better CMOs in your podcast app⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rate and review the podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠

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Doing Marketing vs. Being a Great Marketer | Bennie Johnson, AMA

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