CMO Spotlight | Alex Cwirko-Godycki - Aon

The CMO Spotlight is a chance to get an inside look into the minds and journeys of high-performing marketing leaders. 

Setup President, Amanda Thompson, spoke with Alex Cwirko-Godycki, the Chief Marketing Officer of Human Capital and the Head of Digital Marketing at Aon, about his problem solving skills, the power of simplicity, United Airlines’ relatable motto, and more.

“At the end of the day, simplicity was the lesson. Keep it simple.”

WATCH + READ THE RECAP BELOW (SCROLL TO THE END FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW)

Q1 | What advice would you share with marketers?

“You can identify the problem, but are you coming to the table with some answers and ideas on how to solve it?”

Cwirko-Godycki’s career has been filled with mentors who guided and supported him. One mentor’s advice, Linda, specifically stood out to him, “Alex, you're really smart. You have lots of good ideas, but you're spending too much time pointing out problems and not enough time solving them. If you want to be a leader, you have to focus on the solution.” 

Determining the problem is one part of the equation, but solving the problem is what will differentiate you as a leader. 

Q2 | What is your superpower?

Cwirko-Godycki’s unique superpower is the ability to synthesize different points of view across the business. 

From Professional Services to Consultants, anyone who is working with clients is also a marketer and seller, so it’s important for them to understand everything. Cwirko-Godycki boils the technical information and details down so that the information is digestible and approachable to the average buyer. 

He does this by focusing on simplicity. He listens to all the information and opinions available, and then synthesizes it in both spoken and written word for everyone to understand.

Q3 | What values are important to you?

“Honesty and transparency.”

Cwirko-Godycki believes that his colleagues deserve to be treated with respect, and that even though people may need different things to succeed, he should always be open and honest with them.

“I've always believed in explaining to people why we're doing something. If it's a change in direction or something new.” He believes in explaining the why behind any business decisions so that he can articulate how the team can rally behind the new direction and find their place in the change. 

“And it's not just about being nice and honest to people, which I think is important, but I also think the context when you give it to people actually helps them perform better. So if they know why you're doing something, why they're being asked to do something, then I think there's a higher chance that they'll buy in and feel good about it and then perform better.”

This leadership approach is very human-centered. Include people in your decisions because it gives them a voice, accountability, and involvement, making the team more motivated to succeed.

Q4 | Tell us about an impactful campaign.

Cwirko-Godycki referenced a campaign from when he was fairly new to Aon and transitioning from a content marketing role to a demand gen and marketing tech role. 

Aon had just implemented a new technology stack and, to launch it, the team developed sophisticated campaigns including lots of HTML, visuals, infographics, and buttons in email. Despite going all out, no results transpired. 

The team sat down with the lack of results and asked themselves, “What does a human want to see?” They concluded that a personalized approach was the most human approach. So, Aon simplified their message to explain who they were and how they could help, and asked if the receiver was interested in a conversation. And it worked. 

Ten years later, the personalized approach including key details and notes about the industry and person are still working. 

“At the end of the day, simplicity was the lesson. Keep it simple.” 

Q5 | What is a brand that you admire?

Cwirko-Godycki resonated with United Airlines because their mission rallies around a similar one to Aon, that “Good leads the way.” 

In addition to seeing United Airlines all over LinkedIn and being a frequent flyer, he loves that there are parallels between what each company is doing in their pursuit of good.

“I really like how they've realized that they had some challenges around customer experience a few years back, and have attacked it head-on to make meaningful changes in the customer experience. So it's not pretend, but they're infusing that into the brand and telling those stories and making it very real and grounded.” Cwirko-Godycki pointed out that everything is consistent - from what the pilots are doing, what the flight attendants are doing, and what the people are experiencing on the plane. “I think it's really good work.”

---

For more marketing leadership advice and a view into the mindset of marketing executives in various industries, be sure to watch the full interview with Alex Cwirko-Godycki, and keep an eye out for more thought leadership from our CMO Spotlights.

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW TO THE RIGHT.

Get the CMO Spotlight sent right to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletter below! 

Know someone who may be a good candidate for the CMO Spotlight who embodies authentic marketing leadership, has set an example of success, and paved the way for others? Feel free to nominate them here!