Quick answer: CMOs get featured in the media by answering journalist requests on brand and marketing trends, publishing bylines in outlets like Ad Age and Adweek, speaking at industry events, and earning recognition like Forbes' most influential CMOs, then making sure that coverage is visible in AI search. Coordinate with corporate communications and keep nonpublic results out of it.
The CMO who builds every brand but their own
CMOs famously have the shortest tenure in the C-suite, which is exactly why a personal brand is no longer optional. The marketing chief who is a recognized public voice has career insurance, a louder platform for the company's story, and more credibility with the board, the market, and the next employer. Building your own authority isn't a distraction from the job; it's part of doing it well.
The good news is that no one is better positioned to get featured than a CMO. You understand narrative, timing, and audience. Turning those instincts on your own visibility is the highest-leverage marketing campaign you'll run.
A note on speaking for a public company
Coordinate with corporate communications, never share material nonpublic information such as unreported results, and keep your commentary at the level of strategy and industry insight. Talk about ideas, not numbers you haven't disclosed.
The CMO's media mix
- Bylines in marketing and business outlets on brand, growth, and AI.
- Podcasts for marketers and executives.
- Keynotes and panels at events like Cannes Lions and ANA conferences.
- Awards such as Forbes' most influential CMOs.
- Journalist requests on brand strategy, AI in marketing, and consumer behavior.
Answering journalist requests
Marketing and business reporters constantly need a CMO to comment on trends. Help a Reporter Out (HARO) circulates these requests, and Featured, which operates HARO and Connectively and aggregates queries across the web, surfaces the relevant ones in one feed. A typical query: "Seeking a CMO to discuss how brands are using AI without losing authenticity." A sharp, opinionated answer before deadline often lands the quote.
A realistic cadence
One byline or interview a quarter, a couple of journalist-request answers a month, and a keynote or podcast each quarter builds a strong profile without competing with the work.
Build a point of view worth featuring
Editors book CMOs with a clear thesis: brand as a growth driver, AI and authenticity, or the future of customer loyalty. Anchor your presence to it, and back it with a perspective only a sitting CMO can offer.
Tools CMOs use to get featured
- Ad Age and Adweek (free to pitch): The outlets marketing leaders are cited and published in.
- LinkedIn (free and paid): The primary stage for a CMO's personal brand.
- Cannes Lions and ANA events (varies): Stages that build authority and clips.
- Forbes CMO Network (varies): Visibility among marketing leaders.
- Featured (free and paid): An AI co-pilot for PR. Build a workflow that runs as a 24/7 assistant, surfacing the marketing and brand journalist requests worth your time.
Frequently asked questions
How do CMOs get quoted in the news? By answering journalist requests with a clear, opinionated take on brand and marketing, sent before deadline and within communications guidelines.
Why should a CMO build a personal brand? Because CMO tenure is short, and public authority provides career resilience while amplifying the company's story.
What should a CMO talk about publicly? Brand strategy, growth, AI in marketing, and consumer behavior, kept clear of unreported results.
How do CMOs show up in AI search results? By building credible coverage on marketing topics that AI systems draw on when answering related questions.
Get started
The CMOs who become known are the ones who turn their own marketing instincts on their visibility. The simplest first step is to let an assistant watch for the right stories. Set up a Featured workflow that runs as a 24/7 PR assistant, so a relevant journalist request, podcast, or award never slips past you.
CMOTimes.com is owned and operated by Featured.
About Brett Farmiloe
Brett Farmiloe is the founder and CEO of Featured, the AI co-pilot for PR, and the owner of Help a Reporter Out (HARO). CMOTimes.com is owned and operated by Featured. He has spent over a decade helping subject-matter experts get featured in the media.