VocabularyBasePractice words

Meaning & use

CMO

abbreviation·Academicbusiness

Last updated

UK/ˌsiː em ˈəʊ/
US/ˌsiː em ˈoʊ/

Meanings

  1. abbreviationcountablebusiness

    Short for chief marketing officer, the senior executive in charge of a company's marketing and advertising.

    Grammar: Countable: the CMO presented the campaign; said as letters.

    Patterns

    • the CMO of something
    • a CMO at something

    The CMO announced a new advertising campaign at the quarterly meeting.

    She was promoted to CMO after leading the successful product launch.

    As CMO, he reports directly to the chief executive.

  2. abbreviationcountablemedical

    Short for chief medical officer, the senior doctor who advises a hospital, company or government on health matters.

    Grammar: Countable: the CMO issued a health warning.

    Patterns

    • the CMO for something

    The CMO warned the public about the rise in flu cases.

    Hospital staff waited for guidance from the CMO.

    The country's CMO urged people to get vaccinated.

Word forms

pluralCMOs

Common combinations

appoint a CMO
The startup finally appointed a CMO.
the company's CMO
The company's CMO spoke at the conference.
CMO and CEO
The CMO and CEO signed off on the budget.
a former CMO
A former CMO joined the board as an adviser.

Synonyms and how they differ

marketing director
Marketing director is a similar but usually lower or less formal title than CMO.
head of marketing
Head of marketing is a looser way to describe the leader of the department, without implying a seat at the top table.
chief medical officer
Chief medical officer is the full form of the health sense and is the safest choice in formal writing.

Word family

CEO abbreviation
chief executive officer, the top manager of a company
CFO abbreviation
chief financial officer, in charge of money matters
marketing noun
the work of promoting and selling products
executive noun
a senior manager in a company

Commonly confused: CMO or CMO as contract manufacturer?

CMO vs CMO as contract manufacturer

In some industries CMO also means contract manufacturing organization, a firm that makes products for other companies, so check the context.

Practice

Our ____ plans all advertising and brand campaigns for the company.

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “CMO”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Explore more words