Why Many CMO Hires in the Netherlands Don’t Deliver the Expected Growth
Most companies hiring a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) think they’re bringing in someone to “drive marketing.”
That sounds clear — until expectations start to diverge.
In practice, many CMO hires struggle not because of capability, but because the role itself isn’t clearly defined from the beginning.
The Core Issue: What Is Marketing Actually Responsible For?
One of the biggest problems is that “marketing” means different things to different businesses.
In some companies, marketing is expected to:
- Build brand awareness and positioning
In others, it’s expected to:
- Drive measurable revenue and pipeline
And in many cases, it’s quietly expected to:
- Fix sales performance
Those expectations don’t always align.
When that isn’t defined upfront, the Chief Marketing Officer ends up being pulled in multiple directions — and performance becomes difficult to measure.
Where Things Usually Go Wrong
The breakdown tends to happen early.
Companies often go to market looking for someone who can:
- Build a strong brand
- Generate leads
- Improve conversion
- Align with sales
- Support growth strategy
All in one role.
The issue is that most CMOs tend to lean in one direction — and trying to cover everything creates a mismatch.
Why the Wrong Profiles Get Hired
When the brief isn’t tight, companies default to familiar profiles.
That usually leads to:
- Strong brand marketers in businesses that need performance
- Performance marketers without strategic leadership experience
- Commercial leaders without depth in marketing execution
On paper, these candidates can look strong.
But once in the role, the gap becomes obvious.
Brand vs Growth vs Commercial CMOs
One of the most useful distinctions is between three types of CMO profiles:
Brand-focused CMO
- Builds positioning, messaging, and awareness
- Strong in creative, PR, and long-term brand development
Growth / performance CMO
- Focuses on acquisition, funnels, and measurable ROI
- Strong in digital, paid channels, and data
Commercial CMO
- Closely aligned with revenue
- Works tightly with sales and leadership
- Focused on pipeline, conversion, and growth outcomes
Most businesses need one of these more than the others.
If that isn’t clear, the search tends to drift.
Why Inbound Hiring Doesn’t Solve It
Posting a Chief Marketing Officer role or CMO recruitment can generate interest, but it doesn’t solve the underlying issue.
You’ll often see:
- A wide range of profiles with very different strengths
- Candidates optimised for different types of businesses
- Difficulty comparing like-for-like
At this level, the strongest CMOs are already embedded in organisations and tend to be selective about opportunities.
That makes the process less about volume and more about targeting the right profiles.
The Netherlands Market Dynamic
In the Netherlands, this challenge is amplified.
There’s strong demand for senior marketing leaders, particularly in:
- Scale-ups and venture-backed businesses
- International or multi-market companies
- Organisations shifting toward growth-driven models
At the same time, the number of individuals who can combine:
- Strategic thinking
- Execution capability
- Commercial alignment
…is relatively limited.
That’s why many CMO searches take longer than expected or need to be revisited.
What Makes the Difference
The difference usually comes down to clarity before going to market.
In particular:
- Is the role brand-led or revenue-led?
- How closely does marketing align with sales?
- What does success actually look like — awareness or revenue?
- What stage is the business at?
Once those points are clearly defined, the process becomes far more focused.
Final Thought
Most issues in CMO hiring don’t come down to candidate quality — they come down to unclear expectations around what marketing is supposed to deliver.
Once that’s aligned, everything else becomes easier.
If you’re trying to understand how different CMO roles are approached in practice, this gives a useful overview of how the process tends to work:
