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Becoming a CMO takes decades of unglamorous jobs before the title shows up on a business card. 34 years. That's what Casey Hurbis needed to prove it: cold-mailing from a library directory, 17 years on Chrysler's account, CMO at Rocket Mortgage and BetMGM, seven Super Bowl campaigns.
I sat down with Casey, former CMO of BetMGM and Rocket Mortgage, because he was the guest I most wanted when I started this show. He's a Michigan State ComArtSci grad with 34 years in the business, three decades ahead of me, and he now sits on the alumni board that helps students like me get in the door.
How do you become a CMO?
Casey grew up in Metro Detroit, the first in his family to go to college. A neighbor who worked in advertising gave him Tigers tickets one day, and that conversation is what drew him to study advertising at Michigan State.
Out of school and without LinkedIn, he looked up agency names in a library directory and mailed cover letters to each one. He landed entry-level on Chrysler's tier-two business at what became BBDO, stayed 17 years, made vice president at 27, then moved client-side to Chrysler before becoming CMO at Rocket Mortgage and BetMGM.
He was two weeks into his first client-side role when they told him to run point on a Charlie Sheen shoot, despite never having been on a production. Instead of saying anything, he called a friend, went to Coney Island, and asked what the process looks like on a shoot. "Be yes before no, because you'd never know where that's going to lead," he told me.
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When should you change jobs?
Casey grew up thinking you get a job and stay 30 years. His dad was a firefighter for 25. Chrysler's bankruptcy in 2010 took the choice out of his hands: the agency lost the account, but an old client reached out once the automaker reorganized and needed help. That conversation landed him a client-side role for good.
He was almost eight years into Rocket Mortgage when he started to wonder if there was more. Not long after, he got a call about the BetMGM CMO role, in an industry that was new to him. He took it, then stepped away from BetMGM after 18 months once the brand was back on track.
His read on churn: CMOs last about two years at a brand, and that's where the opportunities are. An old mentor used to say "it is what it is" when things got hard, and Casey paired that with his own belief that the best is yet to come.
Why does performance marketing experience matter even if you want brand?
Casey's advice to anyone starting at an agency, even with brand ambitions: "If you don't get performance marketing experience, at some point it's gonna hurt you."
That comes from his 17 years on Chrysler's tier-two retail business. "You can't have flashy Super Bowl ads, and you can't have big partnerships with celebrities, and you're not going to go put your car on the moon," he said. Retail performance work is what pays for the flashy stuff.
His tactical version for students: take $50 from your parents, pick a nonprofit you care about, run real ads against a real goal, and learn to optimize. That story is what makes you stand out in an interview.
What do hiring managers look at beyond your resume?
When Casey brings on entry-level talent, the resume gets you in the room. "What's it going to be like when the shit hits the fan? How's he going to react when he hears the word no for the first time?" is what he's actually screening for.
He's looking for the fraternity treasurer, or the student who ran a register alone when two coworkers called out sick. My takeaway: stop polishing resume bullet points and start collecting the stories that prove you can handle pressure and people.
Watch the full conversation
Watch the full episode for the COVID-disrupted Tracy Morgan shoot, what it took to pull off seven Super Bowl campaigns, and Casey's philosophy on networking as farming, not hunting.
Watch next: Publicis Media's CMO: 4 Moves to Build Leverage Early in Your Career
Casey is open to connecting with MSU students and young marketers on LinkedIn. Subscribe on YouTube for the rest of the conversations behind this show.