As businesses become more agile and project-led, the traditional one-size-fits-all model for senior leadership is being challenged. We are now seeing a new emerging trend evolving out of the broader fractional C-suite leadership trend called fractional twinning, a model that brings together two part time executive level leaders with complementary skills to act as one high-performing unit.
We had a chat with experienced strategic marketing leader Jayne Pooley to get some expert insight into this new trend and how it might shape the future of marketing teams. Below, we discuss the concept of fractional twinning, look at how it works, and uncover why this model might be the future of fractional leadership, especially when it comes to the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) role.
Related blog: Benefits of a fractional CMO
Fractional twinning is a collaborative leadership model where two part-time executives share one full-time role in a strategic and coordinated way. These so-called ‘twins’ split responsibilities but work together toward a common goal, offering businesses broader expertise on a part-time basis.
The concept of fractional twinning gained attention early in 2025 as companies faced pressure to streamline budgets while still needing high-level expertise. Rather than relying on a single generalist in marketing, fractional CMO twinning allows businesses to tailor leadership by combining two specialists, such as product marketing, digital, or brand strategy, but without the cost and commitment of a full-time hire.
As Jayne explains, the fractional twinning arrangement is particularly well-suited to the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) role.
“Marketing is now such a broad discipline that no-one can be fully across all of it. That’s why it can be much more beneficial to get two people with different specialisms and share the responsibility of the CMO role under the twinning concept.
It’s a job share in its very basic form, but more powerful. You get two part-time people who bring different strengths to the same role. You essentially get a hybrid marketing superhero with depth in multiple areas, wrapped up in one role. That’s the real beauty of it.”
Jayne Pooley
Fractional Marketing Director, The Marketing Centre
Fractional twinning can take on two forms: “identical” or “non-identical”.
Identical fractional twins are two individuals with similar backgrounds and overlapping skill sets. This type of arrangement is ideal for seamless job shares, like covering maternity leave and other types of temporary absences. This model is useful when the job requirements are fixed and consistency is more important than bringing different ideas and strengths to the table.
Non-identical fractional twins, on the other hand, have distinct but complementary skills. In a fractional CMO role, one might focus on strategic brand positioning, while the other handles digital transformation or demand generation. This approach adds more agility and adaptability.
Jayne, who is a non-identical twin parent herself, explains:
“Non-identical twinning is not about two people competing or pitting their differences against each other, but rather about using their differences to complement each other. It offers a business much more agility and flexible support. As fractional CMOs we are meant to be non-threatening; a big part of what we do is mentoring, supporting and collaborating with various teams, so the CMO role is really an ideal fit for fractional twinning.”
Why choose two fractional leaders over one full-time hire? The advantages are compelling:
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Skill sets |
With fractional twins, you get the best of both worlds: specialist expertise in very different areas of marketing. |
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Cost |
Two part-time or fractional CMOs can often cost less than one full-time CMO. |
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Fresh thinking |
Each “twin” brings their own network, insights, and perspectives to the table. |
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Flexibility |
Fractional CMO twins can adapt to changing business needs and step in or out as projects evolve. |
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Decision making |
With more diverse input, strategies are more robust and considered, and more likely to get good results. |
Hiring fractional twins: where do you start?
Interested in fractional twinning for your business? Here’s how to start:
While fractional twinning offers many benefits, it’s not without its potential challenges.
Misalignment between twins can derail progress, so more time and effort is needed for collaboration.
“One of the things the C-suite needs to understand upfront is that more time is needed to align and communicate. This is because if even one of the twins is not happy or not aligned it can all fall apart,” Jayne says.
You also need to pay extra attention to cultural fit, because two people will need to fit into the company culture and with each other.
Questions around leadership will need to be asked and answered upfront. Having two “chief” marketing officers can cause confusion unless roles and decision making responsibilities are clearly defined. One example of clearly separating roles and responsibilities could be to have a Chief Marketing Officer that is responsible for overall brand strategy and communications, and a Chief Product Marketing Officer, who is responsible for product launches and campaigns.
Even with clear role differentiation, they might still disagree or want to go in different directions, Jayne says. “But if the twins are professional and understand the overall business objectives, they’ll talk it through with each other and put the client’s needs first.”
As remote work and flexible employment models become more mainstream, fractional twinning is likely to grow in popularity.
Jayne has seen firsthand how one client at The Marketing Centre embraced full flexibility during the pandemic and saw productivity soar:
“They made the decision to close all their UK offices, and told their staff: ‘Work when you want, and how you want.’ They tracked efficiency and it went sky-high, so they made the official announcement that their people could work however they wanted.”
“The majority of companies haven’t really embraced that yet, and there is a lot of post-COVID pushback to get everyone back to the office full-time which I think is not the way forward in the long run,” says Jayne.
The demand for flexibility is likely to increase with the UK’s ageing workforce, and will especially affect more senior roles.
A general shift to more flexible working patterns requires businesses to rethink how they manage leadership. The C-suite of the future may look more like a dynamic, matrixed team, with fractional talent contributing to strategy without bloating the board.
At The Marketing Centre, fractional twinning isn’t just a theoretical concept – it’s already happening. Jayne even highlighted a recent fractional twinning project that involved no less than five CMOs working together on a high-impact brief.
“You can have fractional roles of varying degrees – in fact, you could have a scenario where your whole marketing team is fractional. It's very difficult to do that with two or more independent people, so it's much better to have the marketing centre with a big pool of CMOs to select from.”
The Marketing Centre’s model helps make fractional twinning work more seamlessly by drawing from an impressive portfolio of proven CMOs, each recruited through a rigorous assessment process where only around 1% of applicants make the cut.
“The way we select people is crucial,” Jayne says. “We already know they can build relationships, collaborate, and fit into the culture. That’s the foundation of effective twinning sorted and ready to go.”
Fractional twinning is more than a buzzword. It’s a smarter, more agile way to lead. By combining two experienced professionals with complementary skills, businesses get deeper expertise, broader perspective, and greater adaptability. The Marketing Centre is ideally positioned to deliver this model through their vetted pool of experienced CMOs.
If you’d like to explore whether fractional twinning could be right for you, get in touch with our team for a no-obligation chat.