A Fractional CMO - Chief Marketing Officer - is a senior marketing executive who works with your business on a part-time, retained, or project basis. They provide the same strategic leadership, commercial oversight, and accountability that a full-time CMO would deliver, but without the cost or long-term commitment of a permanent executive hire. For most businesses at growth stage, a full-time CMO is not yet financially viable. But operating without senior marketing leadership means decisions get made without strategic direction, budget goes unguided, and growth stays inconsistent. A Fractional CMO fills that gap - bringing genuine senior expertise to the business at the right intensity for your stage. Get Set provides Fractional CMO services to businesses across South Africa, including Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban, as well as to PE and VC-backed portfolio companies that need marketing leadership deployed quickly and cost-effectively.

The core difference is cost, commitment, and speed of deployment. A full-time CMO is a permanent executive hire - typically costing between R1.5 million and R3 million or more per year in salary, plus benefits, equity, and onboarding time. The hiring process alone can take three to six months. A Fractional CMO provides the same level of strategic thinking, commercial oversight, and leadership - engaged at the right intensity for your business stage and growth goals. They can typically be deployed within weeks, not months, and at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire. For businesses at growth stage, a Fractional CMO often delivers better commercial return than a full-time hire, because the engagement is structured around measurable outcomes rather than a fixed job description. Get Set's model adds a further advantage: rather than placing a single generalist, we deploy a senior growth leader backed by a panel of specialist CMOs across industries and markets - giving our clients access to the right expertise for their specific growth challenge.

A marketing agency delivers outputs - campaigns, content, media buying, creative work. A Fractional CMO provides leadership - setting strategy, defining KPIs, managing agency performance, and holding every marketing decision accountable to commercial outcomes. Most businesses that work with Get Set already have agencies or suppliers in place. The problem is not that the agencies are failing. It is that no one is sitting above the activity, connecting it to a commercial strategy, and measuring whether it is actually moving revenue. A Fractional CMO does not replace your agencies. They lead them - ensuring every supplier is working toward the same growth objectives, every budget line has a rationale, and every quarter has a measurable outcome. This is the distinction between marketing activity and marketing leadership. Get Set provides the leadership layer that most growing businesses are missing.

Every engagement begins with a Growth Diagnostic - a structured commercial assessment that identifies what is blocking growth, where budget is being wasted, and what the real revenue opportunity is for the business. This is not a generic audit. It is specific to your business, your market, and your growth stage. From there, we build a Growth Playbook - a focused strategy with clear priorities, measurable KPIs, and a 90-day execution plan. Not a slide deck. A working document that becomes the operating system for your growth. We then provide ongoing Fractional CMO leadership: execution oversight, supplier and team management, monthly reporting, and full commercial accountability. Every rand spent has a rationale. Every quarter has a measurable target. Engagements are structured around your business stage and goals. Some clients begin with the Growth Diagnostic alone. Others move directly into a full growth partnership. We work with each business to define the right structure.

Yes - and this is one of the primary reasons businesses work with Get Set. Most businesses at growth stage already have a marketing team member, one or more agencies, and various suppliers in place. The challenge is not a lack of activity - it is a lack of someone sitting above the activity, setting direction, and holding every contributor accountable to a shared commercial strategy. A Get Set Fractional CMO steps in as the senior growth leader. They set the strategy, define the KPIs, manage agency and supplier performance, and ensure every team member is working toward the same commercial goals. They do not replace your existing resources - they make those resources more effective. For businesses where the CEO or founder is currently managing marketing by default, a Fractional CMO removes that burden and replaces it with structured, accountable growth leadership.

There are several signals that indicate a business has reached the point where a Fractional CMO would create significant commercial value:

- Marketing is active but growth is inconsistent. Campaigns are running, agencies are briefed, and budget is going out - but no one can clearly explain what is driving revenue and what is not.

- The CEO or founder is managing marketing by default. Marketing decisions are landing on the leadership team because there is no senior person to own them.

- There is no clear KPI framework for marketing. The business cannot confidently measure whether its marketing spend is generating pipeline, revenue, or return.

- The business has multiple agencies or suppliers with no one coordinating them toward a unified growth strategy.

- Growth has stalled despite continued marketing activity. The business is busy but not moving forward commercially.

If two or more of these describe your business, a Growth Diagnostic with Get Set is the fastest way to understand exactly what is blocking growth and what a Fractional CMO engagement would address. Get Set works with businesses across South Africa that are scaling and need their growth leadership to catch up — from founder-led companies to PE and VC-backed portfolio businesses at growth stage.

Get Set works with two primary types of clients. The first is the founder-led or CEO-led business at a growth inflection point - a company that has real momentum, existing marketing activity, and a team or suppliers in place, but no senior growth leader connecting that activity to commercial outcomes. These are typically businesses that have outgrown their current marketing structure and need strategic leadership to make growth consistent and measurable. The second is the PE or VC-backed portfolio company that needs senior marketing leadership deployed quickly and cost-effectively. Investors who need their portfolio companies to demonstrate credible growth - with the strategy, reporting, and commercial accountability that investment timelines demand - work with Get Set to provide that leadership without the cost or timeline of a full-time CMO hire. Get Set operates across South Africa, with clients in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and other major business centres. We work across sectors including B2B services, technology, professional services, financial services, manufacturing, and more.

Get Set provides a structured Fractional CMO solution specifically designed for investors who need marketing leadership in their portfolio companies. The most common challenge we see in PE and VC-backed businesses is that marketing activity exists - agencies, campaigns, a marketing team - but there is no senior growth leader providing commercial direction, managing supplier performance, or reporting on outcomes in a way that gives investors real visibility. Get Set addresses this directly. We deploy experienced Fractional CMOs into portfolio companies quickly - typically within weeks - and build the growth structure, KPI framework, and reporting discipline that investors need to see. For investors managing multiple portfolio companies, Get Set's panel model provides access to a bench of specialist CMOs across sectors and markets, coordinated through a single accountable partner. You get the right expertise for each portfolio company's specific growth context, without managing multiple individual hires. Engagements can be structured to align with investment timelines - whether the goal is revenue acceleration, preparation for a funding round, building a credible growth story ahead of exit, or simply bringing accountability to marketing spend that has gone unmanaged.

Get Set can typically begin a Growth Diagnostic within one to two weeks of initial engagement. This is significantly faster than the three to six month timeline typically required to hire a full-time CMO. For businesses or investors that need senior growth leadership in place quickly - whether due to a leadership gap, an upcoming growth phase, or an investment timeline - this speed of deployment is one of the core advantages of the Fractional CMO model. Following the Growth Diagnostic, a Growth Playbook and ongoing Fractional CMO engagement can be structured and initiated within the same month, meaning the business can move from diagnostic to active growth leadership in a matter of weeks rather than months.

Results vary by business stage, starting point, and engagement structure - but there are consistent commercial outcomes that Get Set engagements are designed to deliver. In the first 90 days, clients typically gain: a clear picture of what is and is not working in their current marketing activity, a prioritised growth strategy tied to measurable KPIs, a consolidated approach to managing agencies and suppliers, and a reporting framework that gives leadership and investors real visibility into marketing ROI. Over a sustained engagement, businesses working with Get Set typically see improvement in qualified pipeline, more efficient use of marketing budget, better alignment between marketing and sales activity, and more consistent revenue growth - driven by strategy and accountability rather than activity alone. Get Set measures every engagement against agreed commercial KPIs. We do not report on outputs - impressions, clicks, or campaign metrics in isolation. We report on outcomes: pipeline, revenue contribution, and return on marketing investment. If your marketing is active but your growth is not moving - a Growth Diagnostic is the fastest way to understand what is blocking results and what a structured growth partnership would deliver.