Marketing With Purpose Kit: The Concierge Fractional CMO

**SPEAKER_1** (0:04)
The Bliss Business Podcast, the show about empathy, connection and consciousness in business. Today's episode is brought to you by Zero Company, your paid search, social media, and programmatic ad experts.

**Stephen Sakach** (0:18)
Welcome back to the Marketing with Purpose series from The Bliss Business Podcast where we explore how to build marketing systems that feel and not just sell. I'm Stephen Sakach, joined by co-host Tullio Siragusa and Mike Liwski. Hey, guys.

**Tullio Siragusa** (0:35)
Hey, Stephen. Good to see you again.

**Michael Liwski** (0:37)
Good to be back.

**Stephen Sakach** (0:39)
So last episode, we talked about the fractional CMO versus the category architect. But what if you're a smaller business and don't have the funds to cover those types of roles within your company? Well, today's episode explores a role that's gaining momentum in today's evolving market landscape. The concierge fractional CMO, where we're going to talk about what it means, how it differs from traditional marketing leadership, and how you can use it to unlock deep purpose aligned growth.

**Tullio Siragusa** (1:13)
Yeah, Stephen, so let's really start with the shift that's taking place. Because today, companies, they want more than just growth. They really want that growth to be aligned with who they are, what they stand for as an organization, especially we're seeing this from startups, as well as companies that are scaling their brands at the moment. They often don't necessarily need or for one, they can't even support having yet a full-time CMO, because we know those roles can be very expensive.
But what they do need at this point in time is really the wisdom, the empathy, the marketing chops, the clarity for their marketing strategy.

**Michael Liwski** (1:59)
Exactly. What I love about this idea for small businesses of a concierge, when you think of a concierge, it's like it's done for you. It's not so much like a traditional fractional CMO who might come in and do something, but there's still a lot of involvement or might be leading a team. It's almost like this idea of just hand it over, right? So that's where the concierge fractional CMO really comes in. It's not just a part-time contract. It's actually high-touch, high-trust advisor, who helps the organization clarify its purpose. That's the key thing. Craft how it's going to position itself in the marketplace and then operationalize empathy across all the marketing channels. So it's a higher level of high-touch, like think of a concierge-type service.

**Stephen Sakach** (2:47)
Yeah. And I guess the real differentiator is that it's relationship-led. So great concierge CMO doesn't just show up with a rigid playbook. They listen, they tune in to the company's heart, and they ask some questions like, who are you really here to serve? Or what story are you trying to tell? And what's the way of making that story felt?
So let's kind of look at the role of this through a purpose lens. So let's zoom in on this little bit. So the concierge CMO is not just kind of chasing shiny tactics. They often meet you where you're at. So they've seen the steps to growth, and they know kind of the logical path, what it might look like for you. And so that's one of the key things they often do is just helping brands market with some intention, like making sure every strategy serves something deeper than just the revenue goal as well.

**Tullio Siragusa** (3:49)
Precisely. And so really what they're focusing on is that long-term emotional connection that the brand needs to create. And sometimes brands with their initial customers, they have that kind of a connection. So it's making sure that when the strategy comes in or the company is growing, that they really don't shy away or deviate from that, right? It's not just about the short-term pipeline where we've got to quickly generate leads in order to meet some sort of revenue target or make shareholders and boards content, right? Whether they're really trying to refine the brand voice, right? If they're trying to refine or craft your origin story, or they're even developing sort of that purpose-first funnel for your organization, right? They're really trying to bring the soul of the organization to the forefront and make that the main structure.

**Michael Liwski** (4:47)
I'm so glad we're talking about this because I'm, like you said, Stephen, last week, we talked about the category architect. That's a very different kind of CMO. They're actually carving out a marketplace. They're creating a marketplace, very different focus than, say, an execution-driven CMO. That's maybe a more mature company trying to gain traction in the marketplace or expand. This is really about the culture you're going to create, both inside and outside of the walls of your company, right? So they have this unique role of building culture. And because when marketing is driven by a clear and resident purpose, that's the foundation of building that culture. It has a ripple effect inside the business. Employees feel it, sales teams align with it, and even partners and investors can articulate it with a lot of confidence. Now, the big question, which I'm sure we'll answer later on, is can one CMO do all these things? Not likely, but we'll talk about that later. But that's the intent of this concept is really elevating the culture of the business, really creating what it stands for and how people will align with it and resonate with it.