The Marketing Playbook Top CMOs Use to Dominate Competitive Markets

Business Insider just dropped their annual list of the most innovative CMOs, and honestly, we were surprised by what we found. These marketing executives at billion-dollar companies like JPMorganChase, EY, Klarna, Oura, and TD Bank are wrestling with the exact same challenges that keep high-ticket business owners awake at 2 AM.

Rising client acquisition costs. Operational inefficiencies that eat into margins. Reputation nightmares like viral negative reviews, former employee complaints on social media, or client disputes that blow up online. If you're nodding along, you're not alone.

Here's what caught our attention: the difference between these CMOs and businesses that struggle isn't the size of their marketing budget. It's how they think systematically about problems. Their solutions are like blueprints that high-ticket service providers can steal (legally) and adapt, whether they're running a solo consultancy or a multi-million dollar firm.

We've broken down five battle-tested strategies that are driving real results at the highest levels.

In This Article:

• Strategy #1: The Emotional B2B Playbook (EY)

• Strategy #2: The Strategic In-House Advantage (JPMorgan)

• Strategy #3: AI as Profit Multiplier, Not Cost Center (Klarna)

• Strategy #4: The Partnership Multiplication Strategy (Oura)

• Strategy #5: Crisis-to-Opportunity Reputation Management (TD Bank)

Strategy #1: The Emotional B2B Playbook (EY)

John Rudaizky, EY's global chief brand and marketing officer, figured out something that most B2B companies completely miss: emotional storytelling actually works in professional services, especially when you're targeting C-suite decision makers.

While their competitors were busy listing credentials and capabilities (basically playing "who has the most impressive resume"), EY launched their biggest brand refresh in over a decade with the "All In" strategy. They're positioning themselves for their next $50 billion in growth. Here's the genius part: Rudaizky took B2C creative techniques like hero films and emotion-driven campaigns and applied them to traditionally dry professional services marketing.

The results? Pretty impressive. Their "Transformations" campaign reached 15 million people in airports and generated 5 million digital billboard impressions. Even better, their "Generations" film debuted at the World Economic Forum in Davos and drove a seven-point uplift in brand favorability among C-suite audiences and an 83% increase in social media sharing.

What This Means for Us

Most high-ticket service providers make their marketing way too logical and feature-focused. We list credentials, case studies, and methodologies without actually connecting emotionally with decision makers. It's like showing up to a first date and immediately pulling out our resume.

Think about it differently. High-end business coaches shouldn't just talk about "increasing revenue." We should tell stories about CEOs who transformed their companies and found time for family dinners again. Wealth managers shouldn't lead with portfolio performance metrics. Paint pictures of clients sleeping soundly knowing their legacy is secure.

The framework that works: Outcome + Emotion + Proof. Show the transformation, make them feel it, then back it up with credibility.

Of course, emotional positioning attracts the right clients, but operational efficiency determines whether we can actually serve them profitably. That's where our next strategy becomes crucial.

Strategy #2: The Strategic In-House Advantage (JPMorgan)

Carla Hassan, JPMorganChase's global chief marketing officer, made a move that we think many high-ticket business owners should seriously consider: she brought critical functions in-house for better control and lower costs.

Hassan brought 70% of the bank's paid media operations in-house. For one of the world's largest marketing organizations, that's like reorganizing a small country. The results were immediate: 50% faster message delivery, 70% reduction in content briefing time, and significant cost savings while maintaining brand safety standards.

But here's where it gets interesting. Hassan didn't stop there. She created "Marketing Mixes" educational sessions for internal teams and established a CMO role specifically for employee experience. Why? Because she recognized that internal operations directly impact external results. (Revolutionary concept, right?)

What This Means for Us

This isn't about doing everything ourselves... that's a recipe for burnout and mediocrity. It's about identifying which functions are too critical to our premium positioning to outsource.

We've noticed that successful high-ticket businesses typically internalize these functions once they reach sufficient scale:

Sales and closing. Those pricing conversations and objection handling sessions are too important to delegate until we've perfected the process ourselves

Content creation. Our thought leadership and expertise are literally what justify high-ticket pricing

Client success and onboarding. The experience that makes clients feel they made the right investment decision

The decision framework we use: If a function directly impacts our premium positioning or client experience, and we have enough volume to justify dedicated resources, bring it in-house.

Bringing functions in-house requires the right systems and processes, though. That's where technology becomes our competitive advantage when we implement it strategically, not just because everyone else is doing it.

Strategy #3: AI as Profit Multiplier, Not Cost Center (Klarna)

David Sandström, Klarna's chief marketing officer, shows us how to implement AI strategically rather than just throwing it at everything and hoping something sticks (we've all seen those "AI-powered" disasters).

While many companies are basically playing AI roulette, Sandström took a surgical approach that cut creative production costs by $10 million annually and overall sales and marketing spend by 11%. Not too shabby.

Klarna integrated tools like Midjourney, Firefly, and DALL-E across specific marketing operations, but here's the key insight: They identified repetitive creative tasks where AI could maintain quality while reducing time and cost. They didn't automate strategy or relationship building—the stuff that actually matters. They automated execution.

Sandström also led the creation of Klarna's AI shopping feed, showing how AI can enhance customer experience while improving operational efficiency. The company now serves over 100 million active users and 724,000 merchant partners.

What This Means for Us

Let's start with AI applications that preserve our premium positioning while cutting costs:

Proposal and contract creation. Use AI for initial drafts, then we add our strategic expertise and personalization (because nobody wants a robot proposal)

Content briefs and outlines. Let AI handle research and structure, we provide the insights and personality that people actually pay for

Client onboarding sequences. Automate routine communications while reserving personal touch points for relationship building

Market research and competitor analysis. Use AI to gather and organize information, we provide the strategic interpretation

The principle that works: AI should handle tasks that don't require our unique expertise. This frees us up to focus on high-value work.

Technology can make our internal operations more efficient, but what about expanding our market reach? That's where strategic partnerships become our growth multiplier.

Strategy #4: The Partnership Multiplication Strategy (Oura)

Doug Sweeny, Oura's chief marketing officer, demonstrates the power of strategic partnerships when markets get competitive. When he joined in 2022, the wearable device market was slowing down (everyone and their grandmother already had a fitness tracker). His response? Cut customer acquisition costs by over 50% while growing brand awareness more than fivefold.

Sweeny's partnership strategy was methodical, not the usual "spray and pray" approach we see too often. Rather than random sponsorships, he targeted partnerships that would showcase Oura's unique value proposition: CNN's Magic Wall for election coverage, Mission: Impossible for stress monitoring, and England Football for athletic performance.

Each partnership let Oura tap into new audiences without breaking the bank, while making the brand look premium and sophisticated. The company doubled revenue for two consecutive years and reached profitability ahead of schedule.

What This Means for Us

Strategic partnerships work especially well for premium service providers because we can share audiences without stepping on each other's toes.

The Partnership Framework We Use:

1. Identify complementary service providers who serve our ideal clients but don't compete with our core offering
   

2. Create mutual value. High-end business coaches can partner with wealth managers, luxury real estate agents, or executive recruiters (think about where your clients naturally spend money)
   

3. Structure win-win arrangements - Mutual referrals, co-created content, or joint events that benefit both parties
   

4. Maintain premium positioning - Partner only with businesses that enhance rather than dilute our brand (no bargain-basement partnerships)
   

The goal isn't just lead generation... it's leveraging other businesses' credibility and access to reach our ideal clients more efficiently.

Strategic partnerships can accelerate growth, but what happens when our reputation faces a crisis? Our final strategy shows how to turn challenges into competitive advantages.

Strategy #5: Crisis-to-Opportunity Reputation Management (TD Bank)

Jennie Platt, TD Bank's chief marketing officer, faced a reputation crisis in 2024 when the bank dealt with a money laundering scandal. Not exactly the kind of press coverage anyone wants to wake up to. Her response? A masterclass in turning challenges into competitive advantages.

While much of corporate America was backing away from diversity, equity, and inclusion messaging (basically running for the hills), Platt doubled down. TD focused on four key areas: supporting Black-owned businesses, affordable housing access, digital accessibility tools, and LGBTQ+ customer welcoming.

The strategy worked brilliantly. TD saw a 20% lift in brand awareness and doubled marketing-driven sales from 2022 to 2024. Marketing's contribution to overall sales roughly doubled to about 19%.

What This Means for Us

Every high-ticket business will face reputation challenges, client complaints, or market criticism at some point. It's not if, it's when. The response often determines long-term success more than the initial problem.

The Crisis-to-Opportunity Framework We've Seen Work:

1. Address issues directly rather than hoping they disappear (spoiler alert: they don't)
   

2. Double down on core values that differentiate us in the market
   

3. Use transparency as competitive advantage. Clients trust businesses that acknowledge and fix problems rather than those that pretend to be perfect
   

4. Turn critics into case studies by demonstrating how we resolve issues
   

5. Leverage the attention to showcase what makes us different
   

Premium positioning often comes from how we handle difficulties, not just successes. Clients pay high-ticket partly for the confidence that we'll handle problems professionally when they inevitably arise.

Putting It All Together: The Systematic Advantage

These five strategies work because they address different aspects of the same challenge: building and scaling a high-ticket business that attracts the right clients, operates efficiently, and maintains its positioning through any market condition.

Notice how each strategy builds on the others:

Emotional positioning (EY) attracts high-ticket clients who value transformation over transactions

Strategic in-house operations (JPMorgan) ensure we can deliver on promises consistently

AI implementation (Klarna) frees up resources to focus on high-value client work

Partnership strategies (Oura) multiply our reach without diluting our positioning

Crisis management (TD Bank) turns inevitable challenges into proof of our professionalism

The CMOs on Business Insider's list aren't winning because they have bigger budgets. They're succeeding because they think systematically about efficiency, control, and strategic leverage. Each move reinforces their market position while building sustainable competitive advantages.

For those of us in the high-ticket space, the lesson is clear: these approaches work at every scale. The difference isn't the size of the budget, it's the sophistication of the thinking behind it.

What We'd Do Next

Start with the strategy that addresses the biggest current challenge. If positioning is the issue, begin with emotional storytelling. If operational efficiency is killing margins, evaluate what to bring in-house. If client acquisition costs are burning through cash, explore strategic partnerships.

We'd implement one strategy systematically, measure the results, then expand to the next. That's how we build marketing operations that scale premium positioning rather than just marketing spend.

The best part? These aren't theoretical concepts that only work for billion-dollar companies. They're practical frameworks that any ambitious high-ticket business owner can adapt and implement starting today.