Marketing expands influence, how chief brand officers are born
Advocacy, partnership and reputational capital redraw the map of corporate power
Sometimes large organisations should be inspired by the nimble moves of startups. Because in some cases they manage to revolutionise the market, even the swamped market of the baby formula industry.
This is the case of Bobbie, a US-based purpose-driven start-up founded eight years ago in San Francisco by Laura Modi and Sarah Hardy. It is inspired by European standards with fewer additives, full traceability of ingredients, and a strong ethical and social focus. The goal: to support parents' choices on infant formula feeding, promoting public policies for parenting and maternal health. "Bobbie is changing the infant formula industry," wrote Time, marking it among the 100 most influential companies in the world in 2025. Suffice it to say that in just eighteen months since its launch, the start-up has exceeded $100 million in sales, raising several funding rounds for a US infant formula market that is projected to reach $6 billion by 2027.
The latest marketing campaign has shocked the conservative American establishment by the choice to involve LGBTQ+ couples and single parents, real stories of families struggling with breastfeeding taboos, the creation of an online support platform for working mothers with expert input, and support for parental leave equity issues. Meanwhile, in February this year, the choice was made, reported by Axios: to appoint Kim Chappell as chief brand officer (Cbo), an umbrella profile for the manager who has led partnerships with tennis player Naomi Osaka and singer Meghan Trainor on postpartum mental health.
Everything is marketing
Advocacy, partnership, policy and reputational management: the chief brand officer has a range of action that goes far beyond marketing and communication. It is an extended profile that becomes brand governance: the brand as a cultural platform, not just a commercial one. From the Cmo to the Cbo: in this way marketing begins to invade all the interstitial spaces of the brand and goes beyond the classic perimeter to embrace the control over the reputational capital, also entering other areas that were previously excluded.
The examples are multiplying. Boeing has appointed Ann Schmidt, uniting brand and communication in a single executive leadership. But Uber, Crocs and Starbucks have also done so. For the coffee giant, eliminating the position of Cmo ensures brand consistency across all channels. Meanwhile, McKinsey sees a company with an integrated executive as generating 2.3 times the growth rate. Companies where marketing is linked to strategic decisions perform 1.4 times better.
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