By Anne Reynolds, Founder of Blue Moon Marketing
…and how a Fractional CMO can help your business grow from the inside out!
Marketing is often misunderstood – written off as “the colouring-in department” or seen as a cost centre rather than a strategic force. But here’s the truth: for any organisation to grow, communicate its value, and nurture its internal culture, marketing isn’t optional – it’s fundamental.
And yet, despite its importance, marketing is still missing from the rooms where the big decisions are made. In the UK, just 17% of board-level positions are held by marketing professionals (CIM, 2024) and in many organisations, there’s no marketing voice at the table at all.
That’s not just a gap – it’s a missed opportunity.
And it’s one that fractional CMOs are perfectly positioned to fill.
From consultant to confidant
I spent over a decade in marketing agencies – working hard, delivering results, building campaigns. But no matter how good the work was, there was always a wall. I was a service provider. Brought in to do a job. Rarely invited into the heart of the business and very much sitting on the periphery. Expected to deliver results without ever being shown the full picture.
That changes the moment you’re truly let in.
Becoming a fractional CMO shifted everything for me. I wasn’t just reacting to briefs – I was shaping them. But that kind of access doesn’t come with a title. It comes with trust. that trust isn’t earned through polished strategies or slick presentations. It’s built on psychological safety – often ignited by unexpected but deeply human interactions.
I recall many moments now where I have connected deeply with a client over something totally unrelated to marketing. They are raw, real conversations – the kind you don’t plan for. But these memorable moments break down walls. From there, you’re let in. Not just to the marketing brief, but to the wider challenges of the business, the politics, the ambitions, and even the unspoken concerns.
That’s when the real power of comms comes in.
Fractional, but not half-in
A great example of this is my role as fractional CMO at RE:GEN Group; a leading name in the social housing space. The level of access and integration I have has transformed the quality and depth of my marketing work. I’m no longer trying to solve one part of the puzzle – I’m holding the glue that brings the whole picture together.
You start to see how marketing isn’t a silo. It’s not just one department. It’s internal culture, strategic direction, employee engagement, customer experience, sales enablement, reputation management – everything.
As a fractional CMO, I’ve become a bridge between teams, a sounding board for leadership, and a storyteller-in-chief. I’m not an outsider – I’m a committed partner, just without the fulltime overhead.
Why isn’t marketing at the table?
Marketing is one of the only disciplines that sees the entire business – from culture to customer. It’s the function that translates vision into narrative. It gives your people something to believe in and your customers something to rally around.
So why is it still fighting for a seat?
One reason? Marketing is a hard sell. It’s intangible, complex, and easy to deprioritise.
But let’s reframe that: Support isn’t a hard sell. Leadership isn’t. Belief isn’t.
That’s where we come in. At Blue Moon, that’s what we offer through our fractional CMO model – embedded leadership, aligned strategy, and someone in your corner who’s fully focused on your business success.
We help businesses find clarity, build belief, and create meaningful connection within their teams and with their audiences. Because marketing shouldn’t sit on the sidelines; it belongs at the heart of every leadership conversation.
Communication is everything
Every business wants to grow but not every business recognises the role communication plays in making that growth happen.
I’ve long believed that your employees are your first customers. If they don’t believe in your business, why should anyone else? That’s why, to build a brand that’s truly credible from the inside out, you need a marketing leader who can make that belief visible, shareable, and scalable.
Whether it’s a full-time CMO or a fractional one, now is the time to stop treating marketing as a support function and start seeing it as the strategic engine driving your business forward.
At Blue Moon, we’re the fractional marketing partner who can help you make that shift.
bluemoon-marketing.co.uk