In brand-led businesses, the Chief Brand Officer protects and builds the brand as a strategic asset. Hiring one well takes clarity about the role and the right instincts. Here is how.
Define the remit relative to the CMO
A Chief Brand Officer focuses on the brand as a long-term strategic asset — its identity, positioning, consistency, and equity — while a CMO typically owns marketing and demand more broadly. The two overlap and are sometimes one role, so the first step is defining exactly what the Chief Brand Officer owns and how it works with marketing. Where brand is central enough to warrant a dedicated senior owner, clarity on this split is essential to a successful appointment.
Deep brand instinct
The defining requirement is genuine brand instinct — a real feel for what makes the brand distinctive and how desirability and equity are built and protected. In brand-led categories like beauty and luxury, this is central, because the brand is close to the whole business. A Chief Brand Officer without deep brand sensibility, however capable as a marketer, cannot be the custodian the role requires. Assessing for authentic brand instinct is key.
Strategic weight and custodianship
Beyond instinct, a Chief Brand Officer needs the strategic weight and standing to protect and build the brand across everything the business does — product, marketing, experience, and expansion — often influencing decisions they do not directly control. The best are genuine custodians who hold the brand's long-term interest, even against short-term pressures that might dilute it. This custodianship, and the standing to exercise it, is what distinguishes a strong Chief Brand Officer.
How the search works
Define the specific remit and the brand challenge — building, protecting, repositioning, or scaling the brand — and a retained search can find a Chief Brand Officer who combines authentic brand instinct with the strategic weight to steward the brand.
Hiring a brand leader?
We recruit Chief Brand Officers and senior brand leaders across beauty, luxury, and consumer.
Explore Brand & Marketing Search →Frequently asked questions
What should you look for when hiring a Chief Brand Officer?
Deep, genuine brand instinct combined with the strategic weight to protect and build the brand across everything the business does — a true custodian of the brand's long-term equity — with a clearly defined remit relative to the CMO.
What is the difference between a Chief Brand Officer and a CMO?
A Chief Brand Officer focuses on the brand as a long-term strategic asset — its identity, consistency, and equity — while a CMO owns marketing and demand more broadly. They overlap and are sometimes one role; scope defines the split.
Related: What Does a Chief Brand Officer Do? · How to Hire a CMO · What Makes a Great Beauty Leader
