We're one of FastCo's Most Innovative Companies of 2023!

Just now, we were announced as one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies of 2023. LFG!

We built this thing to disrupt a 100-year-old marketing consulting model, innovating on every aspect, including pricing, value exchange, speed and showcasing the work’s impact in change management, rather than simply resorting to lengthy PowerPoint decks.

We don’t take this award lightly, and we have you to thank. Our founders, members, supporters, subscribers, and friends. Check out what FastCo had to say about us.

"CMO’s ride or die: Black Glass is a consultancy purpose-built for chief marketing officers, the shortest-tenured job in the C-suite (18 to 24 months) and perhaps the loneliest as a result. A division of the advertising holding company Interpublic Group (IPG) and its first consultancy, Black Glass, which started in 2020, offers elite marketers advice custom-tailored for the changing nature of their jobs...Black Glass’s CMO House, a private membership launched in 2021 that allows CMOs to convene in a safe space, helped several brands change their public position on the overturning of Roe v. Wade at a time when PR firms were counseling silence. In 2022, Black Glass—which operates on a subscription model and features an impressive roster of members from P&G, GM, PepsiCo, AB InBev, and the NHL, to name a few—counseled more than 40 CMOs, resulting in 50% increased tenure and 15% of them being promoted into the CEO job.”

Here are just five of the innovations Black Glass rolled out in 2022 to empower CMOs to change the world – and we think they’re things that every leader needs to apply in their business:

1. The focus is on how the work gets done. It’s no secret that the people and experiences of the modern workplace are changing, and yet many marketers lack the certainty and confidence around implementing major changes to the way they work. Lean in to the tough stuff – change management for the *real* work – and support your most important asset (your people).
2. Supercharge your customers. Make them awesome. We’ve all heard the clichés around #cmo tenure. In reality, CMOs go to work every day with a to-do list a mile long, leaving them little time to objectively assess their impact. We think that we're set apart because we help CMOs take things off their plate and drive incremental results. The lesson for any business helping other businesses: get in the weeds and focus on customer problems, not on what happens to be in your creds deck.
3. Rewire your offer to focus on professional and personal impact. Your customers are people. Less than a year after its formal launch, CMO House has nearly 40 active members, among which are some of the world’s most transformational CMOs, from brands including Walmart, McDonalds and United Airlines. The feedback we’re getting is that a ton of this growth is driven by the 1:1, personally invested relationships we’ve built. Be in it for the long haul.
4. Focus on accuracy and speed. Diagnostics help customers get ahead. As one telecom CMO put it: “Black Glass was able to train us to be a modern marketer; not just provide slides and strategy. In turn we were able to execute on more efficient, effective and transformative work.” We see our diagnostic work as a) important for how we do our work and b) helpful for our clients to make real progress. How can you help folks make the right progress, fast?
5. In-person and virtual community experiences are a cheat code. Coming out of the pandemic and diving headfirst into economic upheaval, CMOs are exhausted. Enter: Raw, collective, inspiring community activations and experiences to refill the cup of drained CMOs. We can all use an inspired session to create business and personal momentum. Bring your customers together – yes, even in B2C businesses! – and watch the growth happen.

Blushing, but with a BIG smile,

Black Glass