The CEO Toolkit
Lead marketing well, without having to become the marketer.
The CEO Toolkit is a practical set of tools for the person responsible for marketing inside an industrial business.
That might be the CEO, owner or Managing Director. It might also be the General Manager, Sales Director, Commercial Manager, Engineering Manager or another senior leader who carries responsibility for the marketing resource.
The toolkit is designed to help you make better decisions around who you hire, how the role is set up, what level of capability the business needs, how marketing is resourced and how you assess whether it is contributing in the right way.
You do not need to become a marketing expert.
You do need to know what good looks like.
$497 AUD incl. GST | One-off purchase | Immediate digital access
For manufacturing, engineering, mining, defence, energy and other industrial or complex B2B businesses.
COMING SOON
Marketing isn't your job.
Leading it is.
In many industrial businesses, marketing sits with a senior leader who has deep expertise in the business, its customers and its commercial priorities, but has never had to formally lead a marketing function before.
You may be hiring your first dedicated marketer. You may already have someone in the role and want to support them more effectively. You may be reviewing budgets, assessing agencies, approving new initiatives or simply trying to work out whether marketing is focused on the things that matter most.
The CEO Toolkit gives you a practical framework for those decisions.
It is not about teaching you how to do the marketing yourself.
It is about helping you create the right conditions around the function so the person doing the work can contribute properly.
What's Inside
Eleven tools, organised around five areas of responsibility.
HIRE WELL
1. Marketer Hire Pack
Define why the role exists, what the business needs marketing to achieve, the capability required and what support should sit around the role.
Output: a clear role brief.
2. Salary Benchmarking + Expectations
Sense-check the role, salary, scope and expectations before you go to market, using current benchmark guidance and a clearer understanding of what different levels of marketing capability should reasonably own.
Output: an indicative salary range and realistic expectations for the role.
3. Interview Questions
Use evidence-based questions to understand what candidates have actually owned, delivered, decided and learned, rather than relying on broad claims about being strategic, proactive or commercially minded.
Output: a more consistent way to assess capability.
SET THEM UP TO SUCCEED
4. First Week of Meetings
Give a new marketer structured access to the people who understand how the business makes money, wins work and serves customers before expecting them to market it.
Output: a practical first week of discovery.
5. 30/60/90-Day Scorecard
Set sensible expectations for the first three months, moving from learning and alignment through to assessment, prioritisation, planning and meaningful delivery.
Output: agreed first-90-day priorities and progress measures.
6. One-to-One Meeting Agenda
Create a regular rhythm for discussing what has changed in the business, what marketing is progressing, what opportunities are coming up, what is getting in the way and where decisions are needed.
Output: better ongoing alignment between leadership and marketing.
RUN MARKETING PROPERLY
7. Monthly Marketing Report
A practical reporting structure that moves beyond activity and digital metrics to focus on what changed, what the market is telling you, where marketing is influencing commercial activity, what was learned and what matters next.
Output: a clearer monthly commercial conversation about marketing.
8. Marketing Budget
Think through the full marketing investment required across people, strategy, brand, digital infrastructure, content, technology, campaigns and external support.
Output: a more realistic view of the investment required.
9. Marketing Decision Filter
Use a consistent set of questions before approving a new campaign, sponsorship, event, platform or marketing idea.The filter considers priority, audience, purpose, foundations, resources, fit and measurement, then helps you decide whether the right answer is:
YES / NO / NOT YET
Output: a clearer way to decide what deserves marketing time, money and attention.
ENGAGE EXTERNAL SUPPORT WELL
10. Agency Vetting PackMarketing Decision Filter
Brief, compare and assess agencies and consultants against the same criteria, including relevant capability, strategic thinking, team, scope, measurement, commercial model and responsibilities.
Output: a more informed supplier decision.
11. CEO Corners
Practical leadership guidance on the conditions surrounding marketing, including access to the business, priorities, resourcing, accountability, sales + marketing alignment and realistic expectations.
Output: a practical check on whether marketing is being set up to contribute effectively.
One Principle Runs Through the Toolkit
Match the role, capability, expectations and support.
Marketing works best when the role is clear, the expectations are realistic and the person doing the work has the access and support they need to contribute properly.
That means being clear about the level of capability required, what should sit with the internal marketer, where external specialists may be needed and how marketing connects back to the priorities of the business.
The toolkit helps make those decisions more deliberate, so the role, resources and expectations are better aligned from the outset.
Know whether the brand is really the issue.
Who is it for?
Despite the name, you do not need to be the CEO.
The CEO Toolkit is for whoever carries responsibility for overseeing marketing inside an industrial or complex B2B business.
It is particularly useful if you are:
• hiring your first marketer
• managing someone already in the role
• overseeing marketing through sales, commercial, engineering or another function
• making decisions about budgets, agencies or new marketing initiatives
• trying to work out whether the role is scoped and resourced appropriately
• operating without an experienced senior marketing leader internally.
If you already have an experienced CMO or Marketing Director leading a mature marketing function, you may only need individual tools rather than the full toolkit.
We review the direction, markets, customers, capability, priorities, assets and available performance information you provide.
Common questions
Q: Is the CEO Toolkit only for CEOs?
Q: Do I need to already employ a marketer?
Q: Is this a toolkit for marketers?
Q: Do I need to use all eleven tools?
Q. Do I need to have read BRAG first?
A Clearer Way to Lead Marketing
The CEO Toolkit gives you a practical framework for the decisions that sit around the marketing function, from hiring and onboarding through to budgeting, external support, reporting and priorities.
11 practical tools | $497 AUD incl. GST
One-off purchase. Immediate digital access.