As a new CMO, what should you prioritise?

When you’re handed the top marketing job for a company, how do you decide to prioritize:
1. Driving Growth
2. Brand Positioning
3. Brand Identity

The answer for me, lies in the stage of the company you’re joining. Of course, there are exceptions — some companies are born with a clear purpose, and their brand positioning is baked into their DNA. But for most of us mere mortals, it’s all about timing and priorities. Let me share how I navigated this at ACKO.

The Growth Phase (2020) -

Back in August 2020, ACKO was a young startup emerging from the first wave of COVID. We were two years into the business, and our single biggest priority was growth. With one major product line — our Auto Insurance business — the mission was simple: scale, scale, scale. Every ounce of effort and every rupee of our budget was laser-focused on driving demand. Growth was our oxygen.

The Positioning Phase (2022) -

Fast forward to 2022. ACKO had become a unicorn and was preparing to venture into new lines of business. Health Insurance was launching in 2023, followed by Travel and Life. This was the moment for us to pause and ask: “What do we stand for?” We needed a clear and distinctive brand positioning to signal our mission to customers, employees, and investors. And so, “Welcome Change” was born — which is core to our DNA and our mission of what we are trying to do with Insurance in India. It became the north star guiding everything we do.

The Identity Phase (2025) -

Now in 2025, ACKO has matured. We’ve achieved significant growth and built a full stack of insurance products hoping to become the go-to “Protection Destination” for many Indians. It was time for a refresh. This required a brand new identity and look to do justice to our positioning, signal our maturity as a company and brand. And hence the new logo and look was recently unveiled.

Same Playbook, Different Stages -

This approach wasn’t a one-size-fits-all. At HSBC, where I worked for 14 years starting in 2007, things were different. The bank had one of the best brand positionings in financial services: “The World’s Local Bank.” And with more than 100 years of history, the ask from the marketing team was clear: don’t rock the boat. Only when in 2013-14, when the bank had change of strategies is when a new brand positioning exercise was done. Again to do justice to the new vision and direction.

Final view -

Marketing teams have a responsibility to identify what the brand and company need at each stage. It’s our job to obsess over the brand so that everyone else can focus on building great products and delivering exceptional customer experiences. These, in turn, further helps the brand.

Hope you found this useful! Let me know your thoughts, or share how you’ve tackled similar challenges. Always happy to chat and exchange notes.