Deloitte’s US chief marketing officer Scott Mager says the CMO role is shifting from brand-led messaging to business growth, while stressing that AI can streamline marketing operations—so long as it doesn’t erode the trust he believes sports partnerships and c
When Scott Mager talks about marketing, he starts with where the work is headed. Deloitte’s US chief marketing officer moved into the CMO role in 2022 after more than 14 years as the US practice leader for Deloitte Digital’s advertising. marketing. and commerce business. In a video interview, he described the change as a pivot in what CMOs are expected to deliver.
“The role is really pivoting from brand to growth,” Mager said. “With everything we do, our focus is on our business partners, making sure that what marketing is doing helps grow the business.”
That shift shows up in how Deloitte is deploying artificial intelligence inside marketing teams. Mager said AI’s value is in driving efficiency across marketing operations. giving practitioners time back for creative and strategic work. The “non-creative side” of marketing, he added, has been a “great time saver.”.
For brand-facing creative, Deloitte has already put AI to work on assets and design. Mager said Deloitte built an AI generator that creates circular design elements—“a core part of the Deloitte brand.” He said the company rolled that capability out globally. calling it both a time saver and something that has “up-leveled our design capabilities.”.
But when he turns to video, his tone tightens. Deloitte has also used AI to create internal and external videos. Mager said. though the company is “dancing around a line” on how far it should go. His hesitation comes back to credibility. “We’re an organization that trades on credibility, relationships, and trust,” he said. “We’re just not sure that using AI-generated video conveys that trust.”.
To him, authenticity matters more than shortcuts in that medium. “It’s much more authentic to use real people. to use our actual practitioners in the video. our actual partners. and our actual clients. ” Mager said. “There’s an authenticity to that that I don’t think you can replace with AI-generated creative.”.
That same emphasis on trust and relationship-building also shapes Deloitte’s sports partnerships. Mager said sports sponsorships have become “an incredibly important part” of Deloitte’s brand marketing playbook. Deloitte. he said. works with sports clients ranging from teams and leagues to sports organizations. helping them through “all the services” Deloitte provides to advance their organizations. Only some clients become sports partners, with Deloitte as sponsors.
He laid out three factors that determine whether a sponsorship fits. “First, brand,” he said—what a sports property does to help Deloitte reach its target audience. “Second is storytelling”—whether Deloitte’s work for that sports organization created a meaningful impact. and whether the story can explain Deloitte’s services to non-sports organizations. “Storytelling is really important.”.
The third factor is hospitality, which Mager described as “the bottom of the funnel” for a professional services firm. The goal is to put partners and directors “in rooms with our clients and our future clients.”
For Deloitte, the Olympics sit at the intersection of that storytelling and its technology capabilities. Mager called the Olympics “an incredible story” and said it is one of Deloitte’s largest clients globally. He said Deloitte has built more than 18 applications for the Olympics. covering functions from enabling ticketing and credentialing to supporting cybersecurity and integrating 40 to 50 other applications across the Olympics platform.
During the Olympics. Mager said Deloitte runs the technical infrastructure. describing it as the equivalent of operating “almost eight Super Bowls a day for three weeks.” He pointed to the scale of the effort: the volume of data. the number of events. and the geographic spread of venues make it “incredibly complicated.”.
For Deloitte, the work is not only operational, but demonstrative. “Telling that story to any client that wants to understand our technology chops is incredible,” Mager said.
Deloitte Scott Mager CMO AI marketing AI-generated video sports partnerships Olympics applications ticketing and credentialing cybersecurity Deloitte Digital creative design brand storytelling hospitality sponsorships
AI video better not mess up trust, like just be honest with people?
So basically Deloitte is saying marketing is about growth now and AI makes it faster?? Cool but does that mean sports partnerships are fake or what lol.
I don’t get the part where he says they’re “dancing around a line.” Like if AI saves time then use it for everything? Trust just seems like PR.
They made a circular design generator? Sounds like midjourney with a brand filter. Also sports partnerships… isn’t that just ads anyway? Half the time I feel like companies say “trust” but they’re really just trying to get clicks faster.