Part Time Lover

Welcome to The Beat by Rockstar CMO. I’m Ian Truscott, a CMO and trusted advisor, and in this newsletter, I’d like to share a mix of marketing street knowledge that I hope will help unlock the rockstar marketer in you.

Hello!

On the socials (well, let’s be honest LinkedIn, as I am not really on any of the other channels anymore) I'm seeing a bit of pushback against the explosion in the use of the term “fractional”.

As I'm currently a fractional CMO, a role I’ve done a couple of times, and I like it, so I’m exploring this topic, wondering whether I should use this term or if we’ve lost it to the lexicon of buzzword bullshit.

You know, like “paradigm shift”, “leading”, “innovative”, or “synergy”, words you can no longer say without sounding like a bit of a cock.

Which is my personal writing metric.

Especially as every Tom, Dick, and Harriet marketing consultant, who has never held a title above that of manager, describes themselves as Fractional CMOs.

I was once chatting with someone about being a fractional CMO, and they said, “Ah, so it’s like part-time?” and the same day, a humorous LinkedIn post that floated through my feed applauded the marketing that had gone into turning part-time work into being called fractional.

I have some sympathy for the cynicism, but I think there is a difference between being part-time and getting some fractional help.

A part-time hire is typically locked into specific days and hours. They’re an employee, on payroll, eligible for benefits, and inevitably pulled into the hamster wheel of internal operations. They quickly lose that outside-in expertise and become short-order cooks serving the business.

A good fractional executive? They're a strategic partner. More flexible. Outcome-focused. There for the board meeting on a Friday afternoon, not saying “I don’t work Fridays.” They’re brought in to get the company through a stage—whether that’s building a team, hitting revenue targets, or maturing a function. Not just clocking hours.

They also retain that outside-in perspective, as they work across multiple businesses, meaning they bring context, strategic insight, and a broader view, with a more analyst or advisory mindset.

And of course, this model provides access to senior expertise—often more than a budget would allow if hiring part-time with all the benefits and perks of full-time employment.

I’ve also been working on the cook analogy - the part-time exec is the chef in your kitchen three days a week. The fractional exec is the Michelin-starred chef who comes in, designs the menu, trains the team, and helps with service when it matters.

Not that I am suggesting I am Gordon Ramsey, I mean I swear a bit, but that’s where the similarity and talent ends…

Is “fractional” going the way of “synergy”, and we should just be plain speaking and say “part-time”? Would love to know what you think, especially if you are also on the fractional journey.

And this week, you know where the subject line comes from, an absolute 80’s classic from Stevie Wonder - Part Time Lover.

Enjoy!

Ian

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Ian Truscott | Managing Partner | Velocity B

What caught my eye on the topic and a bit more from me…

An 80’s classic this week…