{"id":297862,"date":"2025-06-16T22:13:41","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T22:13:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/advertising\/in-2025-the-ceo-cmo-relationship-is-still-fraught\/"},"modified":"2025-06-16T22:13:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T22:13:41","slug":"in-2025-the-ceo-cmo-relationship-is-still-fraught","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=297862","title":{"rendered":"In 2025, the CEO-CMO Relationship is Still Fraught"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The chief executive officer (CEO) and chief marketing officer (CMO) relationship has never been without its challenges, and friction between the pair is increasing, per a report from consulting firm McKinsey &amp; Company.<\/p>\n<p>The firm found that CEO-CMO misalignment increased 20% between 2023 and 2025 due to factors including a lack of clarity regarding the CMO\u2019s remit and marketing\u2019s disconnect from company growth metrics.<\/p>\n<p>In partnership with the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), McKinsey asked more than 100 C-suite executives \u2014including 75 CEOs and CMOs \u2014 from Fortune 1000 companies about growth and relationship dynamics. Responses were gathered across Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>The research builds upon <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/capabilities\/growth-marketing-and-sales\/our-insights\/the-power-of-partnership-how-the-ceo-cmo-relationship-can-drive-outsize-growth\" target=\"_blank\">a similar 2023 report<\/a>. For the first time, the research includes responses from chief financial officers (CFOs).<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s really about recognizing that the role of the CMO can be so much more than chasing the latest trends and using data science and analytics,\u201d said Shelley Stewart III, senior partner with McKinsey\u2019s growth, marketing, and sales practice. \u201cThat is important, but how does the CMO\u2019s role fit more into the core of business day-to-day?\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"horizontal-teaser my-4 py-4 border-top border-bottom\">\n<section class=\"Horizontal_Teaser row d-flex justify-content-center align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"section--teaser_partner col-12 col-md-6 col-xl-4\">                     <a class=\"link-reset text-decoration-none\" href=\"https:\/\/www.adweek.com\/brand-marketing\/infographic-what-is-a-chief-marketing-officer-anyway\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/static-www.adweek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/what-is-cmo-2025.jpg?w=640&amp;h=360&amp;crop=1\" alt=\"Companies are customizing the marketing department.\" aria-label=\"Companies are customizing the marketing department.\" class=\"image image--partner\"\/><\/a>                 <\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A Lack of Understanding<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>At some companies, the lack of understanding from C-suite peers regarding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.adweek.com\/brand-marketing\/infographic-what-is-a-chief-marketing-officer-anyway\/\" target=\"_blank\">their remit<\/a> has resulted in CMOs being excluded from the top table. According to research firm Forrester, only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.adweek.com\/brand-marketing\/fortune-500-companies-cmo-by-industry\/\" target=\"_blank\">63% of Fortune 500 companies have a marketing leader<\/a> who sits on the leadership team and reports to the CEO.<\/p>\n<p>McKinsey\u2019s report echoed frustrations around a lack of understanding of the CMO role. The data showed the number of CEOs who believe that marketing\u2019s role is clearly defined and understood by the C-suite has decreased by 20% (from 90% to 70%). It also found only half of the CMOs surveyed think that marketing executives are involved in the strategic planning process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe CMO can\u2019t be relegated to a very tactical role, it\u2019s gotta be much more strategic at the core,\u201d said Stewart III<strong>, <\/strong>adding that the top marketer should work alongside the strategy and finance chiefs to integrate marketing into its growth drivers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This lack of clarity means marketing departments are underfunded, with 80% of CEO respondents and 77% of CMOs stating their budgets aren\u2019t big enough. The trend is also reflected in global ad spend, which Gartner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gartner.com\/en\/newsroom\/press-releases\/2024-05-13-gartner-cmo-survey-reveals-marketing-budgets-have-dropped-to-seven-point-seven-percent-of-overall-company-revenue-in-2024\" target=\"_blank\">said dropped from 9.1% of revenue to 7.7%<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s critical to align marketing with financial objectives to build trust and credibility,\u201d said Norm De Greve, svp and CMO of General Motors in the report. \u201cI don\u2019t think people spend enough time aligning on the right metrics. I am proactive about sharing what we are doing and how we are driving ROI.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Misalignment on Metrics<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>A CMO\u2019s ability to translate performance metrics such as brand awareness and web traffic into financial metrics like sales and market share is critical.<\/p>\n<p>70% of CEO respondents said they measure marketing\u2019s impact based on year-over-year revenue growth and margin. However, only 35% of CMOs surveyed track that as a top metric.<\/p>\n<p>This also creates a gap between the CMO and CFO, with one CFO from a global gaming company telling McKinsey:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce we as a C-suite-including the CMO agree on company goals, strategies, and business metrics we\u2019re trying to achieve, I expect the CMO to tie marketing metrics and connect marketing activities to that big picture. I don\u2019t want to hear about brand awareness if that\u2019s not what we agreed upon as a company goal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>CMOs are increasingly struggling to understand their impact on growth. 79% of respondents say marketing KPIs were aligned with overall growth KPIs, a 9% decrease from last year. Only 30% believe there is \u201ca clearly defined view\u201d on what constitutes marketing ROI.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key takeaway<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>\u201cIf you want to create value for your investors, you need growth, and CMOs can and should be at the center of how you think about [that],\u201d said Stewart III. \u201cCustomer centricity, no matter what industry you\u2019re in, is at the very core of growing a successful business. CMOs should sit at the heart of [that] because they are the ones that actually own and understand the customer journey.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The chief executive officer (CEO) and chief marketing officer (CMO) relationship has never been without its challenges, and friction between the pair is increasing, per a report from consulting firm McKinsey &amp; Company. The firm found that CEO-CMO misalignment increased 20% between 2023 and 2025 due to factors including a lack of clarity regarding the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":297863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12023],"tags":[129766,26594,129767,43850,17663],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-297862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advertising","tag-ceocmo","tag-data-insights","tag-fraught","tag-leadership-talent","tag-relationship"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>In 2025, the CEO-CMO Relationship is Still Fraught - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=297862\" \/>\n<link rel=\"next\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=297862&page=2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In 2025, the CEO-CMO Relationship is Still Fraught - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The chief executive officer (CEO) and chief marketing officer (CMO) relationship has never been without its challenges, and friction between the pair is increasing, per a report from consulting firm McKinsey &amp; Company. 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