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A CMO preparing for the step up to Group CMO or CEO, in an office overlooking the city

Strictly confidential

CMO to Group CMO / CEO Readiness Audit and Strategy

Are you ready for the bigger seat? And if not yet, what exactly stands in the way?

I am aiming for
Begin your audit Rate yourself first

₹30,000, all-inclusive of GST.

  • Ten dimensionsread against your actual record, not your opinion of it
  • A plain verdictand if you are not ready yet, it says so
  • Then the routewhat to start, stop and amplify, in a dated sequence
  • 75+CMO placements by our practice, across a decade

Why one audit will not do

Two seats. Two different tests.

The towers of a business district, for a group of many companies

Group CMO

Can you run brands and marketing money across many businesses, and hold the confidence of every business head?

Who decides
The chair or promoter, the Group CEO, and the Nomination & Remuneration Committee.
What changes
One brand becomes a portfolio. You stop running campaigns and start deciding which business gets the group’s brand money, and what the group’s name stands for.
The usual gap
Brands across many categories, moving spend between businesses, and leading people who are CMOs themselves.
A senior leader in thought in a private office, with city towers beyond the window

CEO

Can you run the business, and not only grow its brands?

Who decides
The board, the Nomination & Remuneration Committee and, where there is one, the promoter family or lead investor.
What changes
Building demand becomes owning the whole result: revenue, margin, plants and supply, people and the company’s public voice.
The usual gap
Direct P&L ownership, plants and supply chain, and fluency with capital and investors.

Before you pay anything

Rate yourself as the committee would.

For each of the ten, ask one thing: could I show this to someone who has never met me? Nothing you choose here is stored or sent.

  • Group Brand Architecture

    Deciding what the group’s name stands for, which businesses carry it, and which brands stand alone.

    The usual gap Many CMOs have built one brand very well. A group asks you to arrange many under one name.

  • Marketing Investment Across Businesses

    Deciding which business gets brand and media money, which gives it up, and what each must return.

    The usual gap A company CMO spends one budget. A Group CMO has to take money from one business head and give it to another.

  • Marketing Effectiveness & Return

    One agreed model of what marketing returned, used in budget reviews and signed for by the CFO.

    The usual gap Reach and awards are easy to show. A return the CFO accepts is not, and a group board asks for it.

  • Corporate Reputation & Communications

    The group’s standing with the media, regulators, investors and the public, including in a crisis.

    The usual gap Product brands are often run apart from corporate communications. A group seat holds both.

  • Many Categories & Customer Segments

    Running brands across mass and premium, consumer and business buyers, cities and smaller towns.

    The usual gap Marketing skill is more category-bound than it looks. Boards want proof it travelled.

  • Leading Other Marketing Leaders

    Leading business CMOs who run their own teams and answer to their own business heads.

    The usual gap Managing a marketing team is different from leading people who are CMOs themselves.

  • Customer Data & Marketing Technology

    One view of the group’s customers, shared marketing technology, and consent handled under India’s data protection law.

    The usual gap Each business usually owns its own customer data. Bringing it together is a technology and legal task, not a campaign.

  • Agency & Media Partnerships at Scale

    The group’s agency roster and media buying, consolidated where it saves money and kept apart where it does not.

    The usual gap Running one agency well does not show you can reset a group’s roster without losing the work.

  • Chair & Promoter Confidence

    Being the person the chair or promoter trusts with the family name, and the one who tells them when a brand idea is wrong.

    The usual gap It is earned in private, so it rarely shows on a CV. It has to be shown another way.

  • Brand Risk & Advertising Compliance

    Advertising codes, claims rules, endorsement disclosures and brand risk across every business.

    The usual gap Often left to legal. A board notices when the Group CMO cannot own the answer after a complaint.

What you receive

A verdict first. Then what to do about it.

The Audit

  • A plain verdict for the seat you chose
  • Ten dimensions read against your record: evidenced, partial or not yet evidenced
  • What the people deciding would ask you about each gap

The Strategy

  • The route: inside your company, or the move that gets you there
  • What to start, stop and amplify, in a dated sequence
  • How to present your record to the people who decide

Strictly confidential · Prepared for you alone

Readiness Audit

CMO to Group CMO

VerdictClose, with two gaps to fill

  • Marketing Effectiveness & ReturnEvidenced
  • Group Brand ArchitecturePartial
  • Marketing Investment Across BusinessesNot yet evidenced
  • Corporate Reputation & CommunicationsEvidenced
  • Leading Other Marketing LeadersPartial

First moveOwn the brand budget review across two businesses in the next cycle.

Illustrative layout

Your audit

₹30,000 to know where you stand.

All-inclusive of GST, for the audit and the strategy together. No account is needed.

  • The Ascent

    Free, 3 minutes

    You rate yourself and see where you think the gaps are.

    Take the free self-check →

  • This audit

    One seat, your actual record

    We read your record as the people deciding would, and show how to close what is missing.

  • Career Strategy

    All your moves

    For when you have not settled on a seat: pathways, pay and global mobility.

    See the Career Strategy →
  • Undecided between the two seats? We read your record against both, and say which is closer
  • We contact you within one working day
  • We do not contact your employer, and nothing is published

How it works

Four steps, all in confidence

  1. Tell us the seat

    Group CMO, CEO, or both if you have not decided.

  2. Send your CV and answers

    We contact you within one working day to take them in confidence.

  3. We read your record

    Against all ten dimensions, as the people deciding would.

  4. You receive both

    The audit and the strategy, together.

What we need from you

  • Your current CV, in any format
  • The seat you are aiming for, or both if you are undecided
  • Your answers on what you have owned, in your own words
A committee of senior leaders in discussion around a table

Why an executive search firm

We know what is said after you leave the room.

Gladwin International has been an executive search firm since 2010. Its CMO practice, led by Anandh Shanmugaraj, has made 75+ CMO placements since 2010. This audit gives you the reading a committee would not.

  • Plain, even when it is not welcome

    A board rarely tells you why you were passed over. We do, before they have the chance.

  • Between you and us

    We do not contact your employer, and nothing is published.

What it does not do

  • It does not put you on a shortlist, and not buying it does not keep you off one
  • It does not get you the role, and no one can promise one
  • It does not flatter. If your record does not support the seat yet, it says so

Before you decide

The questions we are asked first

How do I know if I am ready to move from CMO to Group CMO or CEO?

You are ready when your record, not your own rating of it, answers what the people deciding will ask. For Group CMO that means running brands and marketing money across many businesses. For CEO it means owning a P&L, operations and people. This audit reads your record against ten dimensions for that seat and gives a plain verdict.

How much does the Readiness Audit cost?

₹30,000 for the audit and the strategy, all-inclusive of GST.

What is the difference between a CMO and a Group CMO?

A CMO runs marketing for one company or one set of brands. A Group CMO runs it across many businesses: deciding what the group’s name stands for, moving brand money between businesses, guarding the group’s reputation, and leading the business CMOs.

What does it take for a CMO to become a CEO?

Boards look for evidence that you can run the business and not only build demand for it: direct P&L ownership, time in plants and supply chain, comfort with capital and investors, and credibility with finance and operations.

How is this different from The Ascent?

The Ascent is a free three-minute audit in which you rate yourself. This audit reads your actual record as the people deciding would, covers Group CMO as well as CEO, and comes with a strategy.

What if I have not decided between Group CMO and CEO?

Tell us. We read your record against both and say which one is closer.

Will it tell me if I am not ready?

Yes. If your record does not support the seat yet, the audit says so and shows what would change that.

Will my employer find out?

We do not contact your employer and nothing is published.

Does buying this put me on a shortlist, or get me the role?

No. It is separate from our retained searches: buying it does not put you on a shortlist, and not buying it does not keep you off one. No one can promise a role, and we do not.

A board in discussion in a Mumbai boardroom

A board rarely tells you why you were passed over.

₹30,000, all-inclusive of GST. A plain verdict, and the route to the seat.

Begin your audit Rate yourself first

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