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Oliver Buchannon
James Murray

James Murray is the founder of Pivotal Consulting Group, a B2B paid media consultancy serving growth-stage and enterprise companies. He created Behind the CMO to share the unfiltered realities of marketing leadership that traditional trade media won't touch. Before starting PCG, James spent time at Google and Amazon Web Services, where he oversaw measurement strategy for approximately $2B in advertising spend. As an agency owner, he's directly managed over $100M in annual ad spend across B2B clients in SaaS, technology, and other industries. He's based in the Kansas City area.


Monday Briefing: Pinterest's CMO Era Ends After Eight Years

Monday Briefing: Pinterest's CMO Era Ends After Eight Years

Plus: TikTok's deadline is this week, NVIDIA hires its first-ever CMO, and a stat that should terrify your SEO team.

Weekly Brief

The Confidence Gap

The Confidence Gap

CMO budgets are up. CMO confidence is at a five-year low. The math doesn't add up until you understand what's actually being measured.

Strategy

Monday Briefing: Meta's AI Is Listening. Now It's Selling.

Monday Briefing: Meta's AI Is Listening. Now It's Selling.

Plus: LinkedIn's algorithm overhaul punishes external links, Super Bowl ads sell out at record pace, and Geico makes a Goldman hire.

Weekly Brief

Why the Best Marketers Don't Get Promoted

Why the Best Marketers Don't Get Promoted

The unspoken skill that determines who advances and who plateaus

Growth

Monday Briefing: Spotify Wrapped Is Marketing's Master Class

Monday Briefing: Spotify Wrapped Is Marketing's Master Class

Plus: 7 trends that will define 2026, AI traffic is tiny but converts better, and Hormel's first enterprise CMO.

Weekly Brief

The CMO Is Dead. Long Live the CMO.

The CMO Is Dead. Long Live the CMO.

Only 49% of Fortune 500 top marketers hold the title today, down from 55% last year. Here's what's actually happening.

Leadership

Monday Briefing: TikTok Got Its Deal. Now What?

Monday Briefing: TikTok Got Its Deal. Now What?

Plus: Meta's $3 billion ad fraud problem, Omnicom-IPG cuts 4,000 jobs, and the CMO who became a CEO.

Weekly Brief

Monday Briefing: Meta's AI Starts Listening Tomorrow

Monday Briefing: Meta's AI Starts Listening Tomorrow

Plus: Google’s third core update of 2025, LinkedIn’s algorithm faces gender bias accusations, and Mastercard’s marketing era ends.

Weekly Brief

10 Things to Be Thankful For (CMO Edition)

10 Things to Be Thankful For (CMO Edition)

Career

The Illusion of Optimization

The Illusion of Optimization

Why everything’s green in your dashboard and red in your P&L.

Growth

The Uncomfortable Truth About Incrementality

The Uncomfortable Truth About Incrementality

Platforms sold us precision. Now leaders want proof. And that’s a harder story to tell.

Growth

Why “LLM Optimization” Will Replace SEO Faster Than You Think

Why “LLM Optimization” Will Replace SEO Faster Than You Think

Discovery is shifting from Google to GPTs. Your brand is already being summarized. You just can’t see it yet.

AI Tech

Sales + Marketing = The Ultimate Power Couple

Sales + Marketing = The Ultimate Power Couple

Leadership

The 5 Types of Marketing Wealth

The 5 Types of Marketing Wealth

True wealth for marketing leaders come in many shapes and sizes

Career

Stop Being Data-Driven, Start Being Data-Obsessed

Stop Being Data-Driven, Start Being Data-Obsessed

Strategy

Unlock Speed in Your Marketing Org: 3 Steps to Decision Velocity

Unlock Speed in Your Marketing Org: 3 Steps to Decision Velocity

Is your marketing team stuck in a slow-moving rut?

Leadership

What CMOs Can Learn from NFL Coaches: Winning Strategies for Marketing Success

What CMOs Can Learn from NFL Coaches: Winning Strategies for Marketing Success

How you can learn from the best.

Leadership

Are You Fully Leveraging AI in Growth Marketing?

Are You Fully Leveraging AI in Growth Marketing?

Artificial Intelligence is your unfair advantage.

Growth

What's New in B2B Marketing This Week?

What's New in B2B Marketing This Week?

Weekly Brief

Behind the CMO

The playbook for marketing leaders who want to think bigger and execute better.


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