Why the pandemic is sparking a new generation of leaders
A new generation of marketing leaders are emerging during the Covid-19 crisis with very different goals to their predecessors.
Cometh the hour, cometh the marketer? New leaders often emerge in times of crisis and after enduring months of uncertainty and upheaval it would be surprising if there wasn’t a generation of marketers considering alternatives to their current roles.
For some, the Covid-19 outbreak has already sparked changes that have led to promotion. New Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts was quick to promote CMO Mark Given to the board in June in a conscious move to help the group get closer to its customers. Other Sainsbury’s marketers have been given more senior leadership roles too, including new retail and digital director Clo Moriarty.
“Mark’s appointment to the operating board will ensure that we really understand how customers are feeling, what they’re thinking and how this affects the way they shop,” said Roberts.
More widely, marketers may have looked at their current leaders and decided they could do a better job. They may have suffered furlough, redundancy or career setbacks, or been given the motivation to set out on their own upon seeing how fragile the bonds of employment can be when times are hard.
