AT&T Chief Kellyn Smith Kenny Redefines CMO Role
Kellyn Smith Kenny, chief marketing and growth officer at AT&T, shares her vision for the CMO role, emphasizing the need for marketing to drive growth and understand the entire business. She discusses the importance of leadership, data quality, and human insight in marketing strategy.
Original reporting · adweek.com
Original: “The Best CMOs Don’t Just Run Marketing ft. Kellyn Smith Kenny of AT&T”
Read “The Best CMOs Don’t Just Run Marketing ft. Kellyn Smith Kenny of AT&T” at Adweek →
How this was written. Awesome B2B wrote this article with a language model from Adweek’s reporting (model: @cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast); it describes that reporting rather than adding to it. The original, linked above, is the full story.
Key points from Adweek’s report
- Marketing leaders must understand how the entire business makes money and build strong relationships across the organization to drive growth.
- Great leaders create conditions for people to do their best work, and continually raise the bar for excellence through conviction and patience.
- High-quality data is essential for effective AI adoption, and marketers must focus on feeding AI with accurate and relevant information.
- Marketing leaders must distinguish between being a marketing manager and a company leader, with a focus on creating a clear purpose for the entire organization.
- Human insight and judgment are still essential in marketing strategy, and AI should be used to accelerate and support human decision-making, not replace it.
According to Adweek, Kellyn Smith Kenny, chief marketing and growth officer at AT&T, believes that marketing should operate as an engine for growth, driving the company's overall success. In a conversation with Jenny Rooney, Kenny argues that marketing leaders must understand how the entire business makes money and build strong relationships across the organization.
Kenny's approach to marketing is centered around creating conditions for people to do their best work, and she emphasizes the importance of conviction and patience in leadership. She notes that great leaders create an environment that allows talented team members to thrive and produce high-quality work, while continually raising the bar for excellence.
A key distinction Kenny makes is between being a marketing manager and a company leader. She believes that a senior marketer's responsibility extends beyond the marketing function, and that they should help create a clear purpose for the entire organization. This requires a deep understanding of the business and its operations, as well as the ability to build strong relationships with other departments, such as finance and operations.
Kenny also discusses the role of AI in marketing, arguing that it is not a replacement for human insight and judgment. Instead, she believes that high-quality data is essential for effective AI adoption, and that marketers must focus on feeding AI with accurate and relevant information. This requires a fundamental understanding of the business and its goals, as well as the ability to analyze and interpret complex data.
As a seasoned marketing leader with experience at major brands such as Capital One, Uber, and Hilton, Kenny brings a unique perspective to the CMO role. Her career has spanned multiple industries and stages of company growth, giving her a broad view of what marketing leadership looks like in different contexts. Through her work at AT&T, Kenny is applying her approach to marketing and growth, with a focus on creating a cohesive and effective strategy that drives business results.
The conversation with Rooney highlights the importance of leadership, data quality, and human insight in marketing strategy. Kenny's emphasis on creating conditions for people to do their best work, and her distinction between marketing management and company leadership, offer valuable insights for marketers looking to drive growth and success in their organizations. As the marketing landscape continues to evolve, Kenny's approach provides a framework for marketers to navigate the challenges and opportunities of the digital age.
In the context of the current marketing landscape, Kenny's thoughts on AI and data quality are particularly relevant. With the increasing use of AI in marketing, it is essential for marketers to understand the importance of high-quality data and human insight in driving effective AI adoption. By focusing on these key areas, marketers can create a solid foundation for their AI strategies, and drive business results through more effective and targeted marketing efforts.
Questions and answers
What is Kellyn Smith Kenny's approach to marketing?
Kellyn Smith Kenny believes that marketing should operate as an engine for growth, driving the company's overall success, and that marketing leaders must understand how the entire business makes money and build strong relationships across the organization.
How does Kenny distinguish between marketing management and company leadership?
Kenny believes that a senior marketer's responsibility extends beyond the marketing function, and that they should help create a clear purpose for the entire organization, rather than simply optimizing the marketing team.
What is Kenny's view on the role of AI in marketing?
Kenny argues that high-quality data is essential for effective AI adoption, and that marketers must focus on feeding AI with accurate and relevant information, rather than relying solely on AI to drive marketing decisions.
