INTERIM AND FRACTIONAL CMO FOR PAYMENTS, FINTECH AND DIGITAL ASSETS

An interim CMO at Outrun costs EUR 1,400 a day, which works out at roughly EUR 18,000 a month at three days a week and EUR 24,000 at four. Mandates run three to twelve months on a fixed term.

Across Europe, interim marketing mandates generally fall between EUR 15,000 and EUR 25,000 a month, and the average day rate for interim managers in the DACH region sits near EUR 1,300 across all functions. Our rate sits slightly above that average and reflects a specialist function in a regulated sector.

Travel, multi-market mandates and team build-outs price above the starting rate. We quote the full number before you commit, and we do not bill for time we have not agreed in advance.

A fractional CMO at Outrun starts at EUR 6,400 a month for four days, and EUR 12,000 a month for eight days. The minimum term is three months, after which the arrangement runs month to month with 30 days notice on either side.

Published rates for fractional CMOs vary widely, from around EUR 3,000 a month at the volume end of the market to EUR 20,000 and above for sector specialists. The low end of that range usually buys a few hours of advice from someone carrying many clients at once.

We contract days rather than estimate them. If a month runs long, we tell you before it does rather than after.

An interim CMO fills an empty seat. They work three to five days a week for a fixed term of three to twelve months, own the budget and the team, and hand over to a permanent hire at the end.

A fractional CMO fills a seniority gap rather than a vacancy. They work four to eight days a month on an ongoing basis, lead strategy and priorities, and work through the team you already have rather than taking formal ownership of it.

The practical test is whether you have a hole in the org chart or a hole in the thinking. A hole in the org chart needs interim. A hole in the thinking needs fractional. If you are not sure, the assessment will tell you which one you are looking at.

Often, yes. Our work is concentrated in payments, fintech and digital assets, and that is where we are strongest.

The problems we are good at also appear in other regulated or technically complex businesses, in B2B and B2C alike: a long buying cycle with several people in it, claims that have to survive review before they reach a customer, and a product whose value is hard to explain quickly. Where the marketing problem has that shape, the specialism transfers.

Where it does not, a generalist will serve you better and cost you less. Tell us what you are dealing with and we will give you a straight answer, including when that answer is someone else.

A briefing call within days, an assessment inside a week, and usually three to four weeks for a mandate, since we hold only three to four at a time and start when one has capacity.

That is slower than a marketplace, which will match you inside a week from a large pool of people. It is considerably faster than a permanent search, which takes three to six months in most European markets before the person serves a notice period.

If your timeline is fixed by a launch date, a licence application or a board meeting, say so on the first call. We will tell you whether we can meet it rather than discovering the problem in week three.

The first two weeks go on understanding the function: how marketing runs now, what the funnel does, where money goes, and which constraints are regulatory rather than cultural. It ends with a written plan and an owner against every item. Where you took the assessment first, this is faster, because half of it is already done.

Days 15 to 60 are for fixing the foundations. Positioning and messaging, the reporting the board needs, and an honest assessment of the team and agencies, including the conversations that have been avoided.

Days 60 to 90 are for compounding. The plan runs, the numbers start moving, and you should be able to see which parts of the marketing function are working and which need investment or replacement.

You get a written report at each of those three points, and you can end a fractional arrangement at any of them.