One charity’s whimsical approach to attracting millennials to a serious cause
The Internet has been flooded with cheeky baby memes for a while, but one new campaign has co-opted them to attract attention to an important cause.
International children’s charity Smile Train has unveiled a new campaign in conjunction with agency SS+K titled “Serious Baby,” to drive awareness on the health conditions of cleft lip and palate in children — all with a light-hearted, amusing touch.
Inspired by popular baby memes, the campaign features 9-month-old Walter, a scowling infant who has gone on a “smile strike” to show solidarity with afflicted children around the world. It is also a break from traditional messaging on cleft lips and palates, which tends to amp up the shock factor with graphic and upsetting photos of afflicted children.
“We wanted to take a bit of a risk and try something different,” said Shari Mason, senior director of integrated marketing at Smile Train. “We realized that if we are able to put a humorous spin on a serious issue like this, it will have a bigger impact rather than shouting facts and figures and attract a younger audience, including millennials. Millennials like to support causes where they can see the impact they’re making.”
She added that social media is the engine of the campaign and that Smile Train wanted people to be able to share the content. So video is at the core, placing Walter in a variety of situations that would make most children smile — like in a splash pool or being surrounded with bunnies. But Walter, committed in his effort to raise awareness, doesn’t crack.
The campaign also has a Tumblr microsite, which hosts the campaign video as well as several other memes featuring Walter. Visitors can share the video and the memes using the hashtag #SeriousBaby as well as donate whatever amount they wish to help doctors across the world to perform free cleft repair surgeries for children in their own communities.
“We’re trying to build their audience base and reach out to a younger demographic,” said Armando Flores, creative director at SS+K. “They have their core audience, but what we’re really moving toward is figuring out interesting ways to get more people to make micro donations instead of just big charity amounts.”
This shift in strategy for Smile Train — with a focus on non-traditional ways of reaching out to newer audiences — comes on the heels of a rebrand last summer. Smile Train’s overall approach to awareness and engagement about cleft lips and palates is evolving and now focuses on highlighting stories of individual patients and families as opposed to putting the spotlight on itself and its efforts.
Prior to the rebrand, for instance, the charity focused more on live events and traditional display advertising, like in the 2013 campaign that it did around Pinki, a patient of the charity, who was invited to flip the coin at the Gentleman’s Singles final at Wimbledon that year. Smile Train has also started prioritizing new, interactive channels and visual methods of storytelling to communicate its mission among broader audiences.
“It’s about making it relatable,” said Mason. “We’re looking at engagement in terms of views and shares but also in terms of macro donations.” The video has gotten over 5,500 views on its Facebook page and over 6,800 YouTube views so far, since being released last Friday, with Smile Train expecting it to gather more steam.
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The cases for and against the CMO role
The answer depends on your vantage point. Gap is bringing back the CMO role after a two-year break, while Hyundai is choosing to phase it out.
With the CMO under the spotlight once more, let’s dive into the pros and cons to see why a top marketer can be an invaluable asset for some companies and an outdated figurehead for others.
The case for CMOs
For many CEOs, a CMO is the not-so secret weapon in their arsenal, driving the profit that fuels growth. This isn’t just lip service from a trade publication — recent earnings reports have shown just how crucial these marketing execs are. CEOs from PepsiCo, Gap, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, General Mills, and Nestlé have all given a nod to marketing—and by extension, their CMOs—as the driving force behind their financial triumphs this quarter.
Nike’s CEO extolled “impactful storytelling” and “brand distinction”—a.k.a. cranking up brand ads. General Mills’ chief raved about brand reinforcement, while Levi’s CEO name-dropped Beyoncé and lauded cultural relevance, translating to turbocharged brand development.
Despite the jargon, these CEOs view their brands as crucial capital investments, not just line items on a budget. While this narrative is familiar, it’s also challenging given how bean counters often see marketing spend as a cost ready for cuts. Unlike other expenses, marketing dollars are accounted for in the year they’re spent, making them particularly vulnerable.
However, CMOs at Nike, Levi’s, and similar firms have elevated advertising to a core business function, safeguarding their budgets even during tough times. Over the years, they’ve mastered the art of demonstrating their value in ways that earn them the respect of their top brass.
This is certainly true for some of the CMOs xx collaborates with. These marketing leaders are increasingly laser-focused on cracking the code of how to unlock the value of data within their businesses. Traditionally, they might have started with creative and media, but their shifting priorities signal a new approach to demonstrating marketing’s impact to their higher-ups, noted xx.
Of course, they don’t always nail it. Even in boardrooms that value marketing, CMOs have struggled to consistently prove their worth. But for every CMO position that’s been cut, there are times when the role makes a comeback. General Mills, the company behind brands like Old El Paso and Häagen-Dazs, revived its global CMO role earlier this year. Coca-Cola did the same just this month. In the world of CMOs, it seems absence really does make the heart grow fonder.
The case against CMOs
Unlike a CEO or CFO, the role of a CMO isn’t always essential — especially in the eyes of some Fortune 500 companies. In fact, only about two-thirds (63%) of them have a CMO, according to Forrester. In other words, for many big businesses, CMOs are a luxury they can often do without.
And even when marketing does have a seat at the boardroom table, it’s not always the CMO who’s at it.
The reality is that companies now demand more from their marketers than the traditional CMO role offers. Marketers nowadays are expected to manage retail media ventures, lead internal privacy efforts, and even contribute to M&A strategies. In a world where roles require more versatility than ever, the classic CMO might just be falling short.
Hyundai’s recent move highlights this trend. Execs there ditched the CMO role in favor of a chief creative officer and a vp of marketing performance. The logic is straightforward: as marketing gets more complex, sometimes you need a toolkit, not just a Swiss Army knife.
For these companies, the CMO as a catch-all specialist is officially passé.
Still, this isn’t about dismissing the role entirely; it reflects the reality of modern marketing—a collaborative, cross-functional approach where success relies more on specialized expertise and strategic coordination than on a single, prominent leader.
Because of this, the era of the star CMO—leaders like Marc Pritchard at P&G, Keith Weed at Unilever, and Linda Boff at GE, who gained recognition for their media savvy and thought leadership during the rise of online marketing—is increasingly becoming a thing of the past.
Today, as marketing requires more specialized skills and a wider strategic outlook, companies are supplementing or even replacing the CMO role with positions like chief customer officer, chief growth officer, chief strategy officer, and chief digital officer. Some are even bringing in regional and fractional CMOs, tailored to address specific growth and marketing needs that a one-size-fits-all CMO can no longer fulfill.
And as with any major shift, there will inevitably be some upheaval and adjustment along the way.
“CMOs aren’t a must-have anymore,” said Ian Bruce, vp Principal Analyst at Forrester. “In this world, the scale and scope of a senior marketer’s role can be very different, which is what CEOs are figuring out. They’re not saying ‘marketing is dead and so we don’t need a CMO’. Rather, they’re trying to understand what’s the rational role, function and responsibility of marketing overall and how can we manage that effectively.”
Ultimately, the case against CMOs is really a case for unbundling the role. When companies phase out or transform the CMO position, they’re not discarding it but redefining it for a world that demands more agile and nuanced marketing expertise.
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