The Future of the CMO: The Leadership Whisperer

On this episode of The No Normal Show, Desirée, Stephanie, and Chris reflect on this year’s Cannes Lions festival, which they call the “Met Gala of marketing”, where headlines about AI and creativity sparked plenty of conversation. The team also looks at what Best Buy’s exit from Current Health signals for healthcare disruptors and the ongoing shifts in the Funnel Wars. For the modern CMO, how can they best prepare for the future? Tune in now to find out.

From Voice of the Customer to Voice of the Market

Desirée, Stephanie, and Chris chat through the quiet unraveling of Best Buy’s hospital-at-home strategy, while exploring a broader insight: the future of the CMO may hinge on becoming the voice of the market—or, as we describe it in our recent report The Future of the CMO, “The Leadership Whisperer.”

Best Buy Bows Out: The Funnel Wars Aren’t Over — They’re Evolving

Best Buy made a quiet exit from its Current Health venture. Once pitched as a bold play to bring Geek Squad-style care into people’s homes, Best Buy’s step back signals how hard it still is for retail disruptors to transform traditional care delivery. Chris calls it another example of inertia winning out. But Stephanie is holding the line — she believes the Funnel Wars aren’t over, they’re simply changing shape. If legacy players think the threats are gone, they’re not paying close enough attention. New entrants, new models, and new consumer expectations will keep the disruption alive.

From Voice of the Customer to Voice of the Market

From BPD’s The Future of the CMO report, we explore why healthcare CMOs can’t only speak for the customer anymore — they have to bring the full market view to the table. This means looking beyond patient surveys and predictable dashboards. Thought leaders like Paul Keckley point out that the housing market might impact patient volumes more than most hospital data ever reveals. Economic shifts, policy changes, employer benefit trends — all these ripple through payer mix, revenue cycles, and community trust. Marketers should be the ones connecting these dots. Whether it’s watching how employers move from traditional benefits to cash-based plans or tracking how new tech adoption reshapes consumer choices, these signals matter more than what people say on a survey.

The shift from voice of the customer to voice of the market is about curiosity, not complexity. It’s about seeing connections that leaders overlook and showing up with stories and data that help everyone make smarter decisions. It’s about being a Leadership Whisperer — translating the chaos of the outside world into strategies that keep your organization ahead of the curve.

Observation Beats Assumption

So how do you find those dots? By doing more than fielding another survey. Stephanie and Chris share real-world ways to dig deeper: sit in waiting rooms, listen to Reddit threads, tour urgent cares, and watch what actually happens in people’s homes. Desirée points to Valuegraphics, which flips the old demographic model on its head. Values, not age or income alone, shape how people really choose and act. The message is clear: if you want to guide the boardroom, start by being curious enough to see what’s really happening beyond the dashboards.

Download our latest report, The Future of the CMO, today and sign up for our The Future of the Health System Chief Marketing Officer webinar happening in August.

Read the transcript