Fractional CMO for Hospitals & Healthcare, India

A fractional CMO is a senior marketing leader who works with an organisation part-time — typically two to six days a month — carrying the responsibilities a full-time Chief Marketing Officer would. That covers strategy, KPIs, budget structure, team direction, agency oversight and reporting to the board or promoter.

It suits organisations that need CMO-level judgement but cannot justify a full-time CMO salary, and those in transition between marketing heads who cannot afford for the function to drift meanwhile.

The problem this solves

There is a particular stage where a hospital group's marketing outgrows the person running it, without anybody doing anything wrong.

The team is competent at execution. Campaigns ship, the website is maintained, the agency is managed. What is missing is the layer above: someone who decides what the function is trying to achieve this year, defends that decision to the board, structures the budget behind it, and tells the team what not to do.

The alternatives are usually unattractive. A full-time CMO with genuine hospital experience is expensive and scarce. Promoting from within places a capable manager into a role they have not done before, without anyone to learn it from. Leaving the seat empty means the function is run by whoever is loudest that quarter.

A marketing team without direction does not stop working. It works hard, in several directions at once.

What the missing layer costs

It shows up as things leadership finds hard to name precisely:

Agency relationships are managed on delivery rather than held to a business outcome
The marketing budget is built by adding to last year rather than from a set of priorities
Good people leave because nobody is developing them or defending their work upward
Marketing is discussed at board level in impressions and reach, so it is never taken seriously as a growth lever
Decisions wait for the promoter, who has ten other things and is not close to the detail
Each new campaign starts a fresh argument about what success means

That last point is the most expensive. Where success is redefined every quarter, no result can ever compound, and the function never builds the credibility that would earn it more scope.

What the work covers

Leading the function

Setting what marketing is for this year, in terms the board recognises, and holding the organisation to it when the first quarter gets noisy.

KPIs and reporting

Defining what gets measured and reported, agreed with finance and leadership, so marketing performance stops being a matter of opinion.

Budget structure

How the budget is built and defended — moving it from an incremental exercise to an allocation that follows the priorities.

Team direction and structure

Giving the existing team clear priorities and standards, and advising on structure, hiring and where capability genuinely needs to be added.

Agency oversight

Holding the agency roster to the outcomes that matter, briefing them properly, and making renewal decisions on evidence.

Board and promoter reporting

Representing marketing at leadership level in the language the rest of the business uses — revenue, footfall, share, cost per patient.

What you get

An ongoing arrangement rather than a deliverable, but concretely:

Agreed days per month, with a defined scope of responsibility
A marketing plan with priorities, budget allocation and KPIs signed off by leadership
Regular reporting to the board or promoter in commercial terms
Direction, standards and development for your existing team
Agency oversight, briefing and renewal recommendations
A quarterly review of whether the arrangement is still the right one

Working together

You work with me directly. There are no juniors, no account managers and no hand-off once the engagement begins — which puts a real ceiling on how many of these I take on at a time.

A fractional arrangement only works with real authority. If the role is advisory in name but cannot make decisions about budget, priorities or agency relationships, it becomes another opinion in the room. That authority is agreed before starting.

Fractional CMO arrangements are ongoing and reviewed quarterly, with a typical commitment of two to six days a month. Scope, duration and commercials are agreed in writing before anything starts, after a first conversation — there are no packages, because no two healthcare organisations are structured the same way.

Why me for this

I held the full-time role. I was Chief Marketing Officer of Gleneagles Hospitals India, part of IHH Healthcare, after marketing leadership at Apollo, Yashoda, Sakra, Columbia Asia and Manipal. I have built and led a sixty-plus person in-house team, defended marketing budgets to boards, and been accountable for numbers that appeared in an operating review rather than a campaign report. A fractional CMO who has never carried that accountability is offering advice. The point of this arrangement is that you are not buying advice.

2025

CMO of the Year

Healthcare Management Awards, presented by HyBizTV.

Team build

A 60+ person team

India's largest in-house hospital digital marketing team, built and led.

Seventeen years

Six hospital groups

In-house marketing leadership across Manipal, Columbia Asia, Sakra, Yashoda, Apollo and Gleneagles.

Common questions

What is a fractional CMO?

A senior marketing leader who works with an organisation part-time, typically two to six days a month, carrying the responsibilities a full-time Chief Marketing Officer would: strategy, KPIs, budget structure, team direction, agency oversight and board reporting. It suits organisations needing CMO-level judgement that cannot justify a full-time CMO salary.

How is this different from hiring a consultant?

A consultant delivers a piece of work and leaves. A fractional CMO holds a role, with ongoing accountability for the marketing function's direction and performance. The distinction matters most when decisions need making between projects, which is most of the time.

How many days a month is typical?

Two to six, depending on the size of the organisation and whether there is an existing marketing head. Groups in transition between CMOs usually need more at the start and less once the function is stable. The commitment is agreed up front and reviewed quarterly.

Will you manage our existing marketing team?

Yes, in the sense of setting priorities, standards and development for them. Day-to-day line management usually stays with your internal marketing head where one exists. Where there is not one, part of the work is often determining whether you need one and helping you hire well.

How long do these arrangements usually last?

Long enough for the work to compound, and reviewed quarterly so neither side continues out of inertia. Some arrangements end because the organisation is ready for a full-time CMO, which is a good outcome and one I will tell you about when I see it.

Fractional CMO