The CCO is increasingly reporting to the CEO
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Communications teams are increasingly reporting to the chief executive officer, though some are still layered under marketing, according to a new report from media insights platform Memo.
Why it matters: Where communications sits in an organization is one of the biggest signals of change in the industry.
By the numbers: A survey of 1,000 full-time, in-house and agency communicators from June 15-21 found that most teams are split between reporting directly into the CEO and marketing.
- Comms teams at larger organizations are more likely to roll up to the CEO, but the blurred lines between marketing and comms still exists in organization charts.
Yes, but: Some argue that it doesn't matter where comms sits, as long as it has decision-making power and visibility into core business matters.
What they're saying: "Communicators often sit at the center of the organizations they serve for a variety of reasons," Memo founder Eddie Kim tells Axios.
- "They are generally responsible for company and leader reputation management, anticipating risks to the brand and maintaining a deep understanding of the market. Comms tends to be broad, with many roles within it. Even with the rise of the CCO, it's interesting to still see an ongoing debate in this data around whether comms belongs to the CEO or the CMO."
The bottom line: The scope of the comms function continues to grow. Most communicators Memo surveyed report an expanded oversight of internal stakeholder management and ownership of corporate responsibility or ESG initiatives.
Go deeper ... read the entire report
