Deanna Naylor has been the president and chief marketing officer of the company since 2010.

He has hired a chief marketing officer to persuade corporations to pay to sponsor events and city sites.

"We wanted to test if the store could become a destination," said Ross Klein, the company's chief marketing officer.

"We thought the year would be up about 4 percent," said Stephen Freitas, chief marketing officer at the association.

There is another persistent challenge for chief marketing officers: justifying their expenditures.

Steve Druckman, the company's chief marketing officer, said that it was only following its customers.

He assumed that role in February 2002 after serving as executive vice president and chief marketing officer at the company.

But the chief marketing officer might be intimidated by his chief executive.

Roman has served as Lenovo's chief marketing officer since 2010.

"The chief marketing officer," he said, the company's authority on public relations, branding and communications.