Fractional CMO & Strategic Marketing Leadership
for purpose-driven CEOs and Executive Directors stuck in tactical swirl - busy but not breaking through.
Wilder Marketing Group provides fractional CMO leadership and strategic advisory to turn scattered marketing into a clear, effective growth system.
Symptoms vs. root causes — where a strategic CMO changes the conversation
Why Wilder?
Marketing is more than campaigns, content, or social media. It's how your organization decides where growth will come from ... and how you prove it's working.
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Most organizations don't have a marketing problem. They have a leadership gap.
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Wilder brings senior-level marketing leadership into organizations that have outgrown junior execution but aren’t ready to hire a full-time CMO.
We partner with leaders to:
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Diagnose why growth has stalled or feels harder than it should
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Clarify strategy, brand, and positioning so teams moves in the same direction
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Build a simple, repeatable marketing system your team can sustain
You get senior-level judgment, clear priorities, and practical tools, not another stack of decks.
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The Problem.
Busy Marketing. Flat Results. A Growing Leadership Gap.
The symptoms are familiar:
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• Campaigns that don’t convert
• Messaging that doesn’t differentiate
• Teams that are busy but not aligned
• Growth that feels harder than it should
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These aren’t execution problems. They’re signals that marketing lacks clear direction, prioritization, and leadership.
Without that, even strong teams struggle to produce consistent results.
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In which quadrant is your marketing team today?
Who We Serve
Wilder works with leaders who know something isn’t clicking — even if they can’t yet name exactly why.
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Typically, that looks like:
• A capable team working hard, but without senior marketing direction
• Increasing pressure from boards, donors, or stakeholders
• Growth that has plateaued or become unpredictable
• A sense that the organization has outgrown how marketing is currently run
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Most clients sit between “too complex for DIY” and “not yet ready for a full-time CMO.”
If that sounds familiar, you’re in the right place.
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Ways to Work with Wilder
Engagement Models
Fractional CMO Leadership
Hands-on marketing leadership for organizations that need senior judgment and a clear system -- typically 1 -- 3 days per week.
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Leads strategy and execution as an embedded member of your leadership team
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Translates board and CEO expectations into a focused, realistic growth plan
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Aligns brand, marketing, sales, and fundraising around a shared roadmap
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Coaches and upskills your existing team so they can thrive long after the engagement ends
Best for: Organizations that have outgrown founder-led or junior-only marketing and need a seasoned CMO in the room - without the full-time commitment.
Strategic Growth & Brand Projects
Short-term, high-impact engagements to create clarity where it matters most. Examples include:
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Growth and marketing diagnostics ("why isn't this working?")
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Brand positioning and messaging refinement
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Marketing plan and go-to-market development
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Marketing team and operating model assessments
These projects deliver clear, actionable direction - and often serve as an entry point to deeper partnership.
Best for: Organizations that need a focused outside perspective before committing to a longer engagement, or that have a specific strategic question to answer.
Strategic Marketing Advisor
Executive-level counsel with strong internal marketing leadership and a need for senior perspective at the top.
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Regular check-ins (typically 1 -- 2x per month) with CEO and/or marketing lead
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Thought partnership on board questions, key decisions, and strategic priorities
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Templates, reviews, and guardrails for internal execution
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Best for: Organizations with a capable marketing director or team who would benefit from high-level input, challenge, and CMO-level perspective without a full fractional engagement.
Workshop and Team Development
Custom workshops and training experiences designed to build capability and confidence -- not just awareness.
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Popular with agency account teams seeking to become indispensable strategic partners to CMO clients
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Every workshop includes individual action plan development and can include 1:1 follow-up coaching to support lasting behavior change
Best for: Marketing teams, agency account leaders, or executive groups with a defined skill or alignment gap to close.
About
Kymm Martinez, CEO/Founder
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Kymm Martinez is a two-time CMO and former Fortune 200 corporate officer who founded Wilder Marketing Group to bring enterprise-caliber marketing leadership to the organizations that need it most.
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Kymm spent nearly 20 years at General Mills, rising to corporate officer status with P&L responsibility ranging from $250M to $1.2B across the US and Latin America. She went on to serve as Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at the University of St. Thomas - where she transformed a decentralized marketing function into a high-performance center of organizational influence - and then as Chief Marketing Officer at the American Cancer Society.
She holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BA from Mount Holyoke College. She is a member of the Business Journal's Women's Leadership Council and is a speaker and author on marketing strategy, AI in marketing, and organizational transformation.
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The firm was named after the middle name Kymm shares with her daughter - a deliberate choice that holds two things at once. It's personal: a reflection of the warmth, care, and genuine investment she brings to every client relationship. And it's a statement of philosophy: that the best marketing is bold, unexpected, and distinctive enough to stop people in their tracks.
Why CEOs, Executive Directors, and Boards ask for Wilder by name.
Enterprise-level experience, scaled for mid-market realities.
Kymm Martinez has led P&Ls up to $1.2B and served as CMO for two major national organizations - the University of St. Thomas and the American Cancer Society - bringing both general management depth and marketing expertise to every engagement.
Cross-sector pattern recognition.
From Fortune 200 CPG brands to higher education, non-profits, and fast-growth startups, Wilder applies proven principles across contexts - without copy-pasting a playbook that wasn't built for you.
Committed to leaving you stronger.
Wilder's goal is not to stay forever. Every engagement is designed to build systems, capability, and clarity your team can sustain on its own.
AI-enabled, human-first.
We use AI to create space for better thinking, faster alignment, and sharper judgment - never to replace the conversations that actually matter.
You always work directly with Kymm.
No bait-and-switch. No handoff to a junior associate. The experience and perspective you hire is the experience and perspective you get.
President, Global Sales Training Company
“I’ve never seen a small business marketing team operate at this level. Kymm’s leadership as a fractional CMO brought polish, focus, and the tools our sales team needed to show up stronger, nurture leads, and close more deals. Her impact was immediate—and lasting.”
CEO, Advertising Agency
“Kymm delivered a breakthrough workshop that truly resonated with our team. Because she’s been in the CMO seat, she translated client-side realities in a way that clicked. Our account leaders walked away with a clearer understanding of how to add value, deepen trust, and show up as true strategic partners.”
Marketing Director, Scaling Start Up
“Kymm brought a level of strategic depth and partnership that elevated an already strong marketing function. Her ability to coach, challenge, and empower has sharpened my thinking and strengthened our impact. She’s fully engaged, highly collaborative, and has never felt ‘fractional’ in any way.”
“Kymm is one of the most thoughtful, strategic and actionable marketers I have worked with. She recently created a well-constructed Marketing Plan for a fast-growing national start-up, bringing clarity to complexity and aligning every working dollar to measurable objectives. I’ve seen her lead in this way for big, established brands as well as emerging start-ups, and for B2B and B2C challenges. She has a sharp instinct for what matters—and how to make it actionable.”
Mark Addicks, retired CMO, General Mills
Thought Leadership
A frequent author, guest and presenter, Kymm Martinez influences topics such as marketing operations, digital transformation, matrixed organizations, and inclusive marketing. She has successfully transformed marketing organizations in the food & beverage/CPG, non-profit and higher education sectors, both in the US and globally. Examples of Kymm's contributions and thought leadership:
What is a Fractional CMO?
A fractional CMO is an experienced marketing executive who provides part-time leadership to organizations that need senior-level strategy and direction without hiring a full-time Chief Marketing Officer.
This typically includes setting marketing strategy, prioritizing initiatives, guiding internal teams, and ensuring that marketing efforts translate into measurable growth.
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At Wilder Marketing Group, fractional CMO support means bringing a general management lens to marketing — aligning strategy, execution, and outcomes so the organization can move forward with clarity and confidence.