CMOs' Tenure Is on the Decline

In just the past year alone, the number and tenure of chief marketing officers at Fortune 500 companies have declined dramatically, according to new data from Forrester Research.

The firm found that the average tenure of chief marketing officers at the top companies decreased from 4.1 years last year to 3.9 years today. In fact, more than 20 percent of Fortune 500 companies changed their marketing leadership in the past year.

Additionally, only 58 percent of companies have a C-level marketing executive reporting directly to the CEO, down from 63 percent in 2024. Among B2B firms, only 42 percent have an executive-level CMO presence, down from 48 percent last year.

Ian Bruce, a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, believes these CMO declines are tied to worldwide economic concerns and changing attitudes and structures at most companies.

With looming economic anxiety and budget pressures, “CMOs often find themselves on the defensive, struggling to prove ROI, hold ground with finance, and avoid being scapegoated for declining growth,” according to Bruce, who also notes that marketing budgets tend to be the first cut and the last to be re-funded.

Beyond the ledger, many companies are also seeing a restructuring that has resulted in a complete transformation of the CMO role. In fact, only 49 percent of the top marketers at Fortune 500 companies still hold the CMO title, giving way to other titles like chief revenue officer, chief commercial officer, and chief sales officer. Last year, 55 percent of top marketing executives held the CMO title.

But Bruce says the declining numbers do not necessarily spell complete doom and gloom for marketing leaders, many of whom are using the moment to redefine their roles to include tasks like customer retention, sales, revenue development, customer success, and digital commerce. In essence, they are transforming marketing’s role as a growth driver, Bruce said.

“Marketing leaders who can make measurable connections between brand-building, demand generation, and commercial outcomes are holding the line,” he says. “Savvy marketers see this as an opportunity to clarify marketing’s purpose and show how they can drive growth. The alternative is clear: change or be changed. In this climate, survival may hinge less on what’s in the job description and more on how boldly CMOs reimagine their role.”