The chief marketing officer once held a seat at the top table. This role was the voice of the customer, the guardian of the brand, and the architect of growth. Today, that seat looks increasingly precarious.
Forrester’s latest research paints a sobering picture: CMO tenure among Fortune 500 companies has dropped from 4.1 years to just 3.9 years in a single year. More than one in five of these companies changed their marketing leadership in the last 12 months. Even more striking: only 58% of companies now have a c-level marketing executive reporting directly to the CEO, down from 63% last year among B2B firms; that figure plummets to just 42%.
Is the CMO role on the verge of extinction? Not quite, but it is under existential threat.
CMOs are losing ground. The reason for this lies in a cocktail of pressures:
- Economic headwinds mean marketing budgets are often the first to be cut and the last to be restored. CMOs are forced to defend spend, prove ROI, and 'fight finance' for growth dollars.
- Short-termism dominates boardrooms. Sales spikes, quarterly targets, and performance marketing often trump the long-term brand equity that sustains growth.
- Role dilution is accelerating. Last year, 55% of top marketing executives still carried the CMO title. This year, it’s down to 49%, displaced by chief revenue officers, chief growth officers, or chief commercial officers. Titles are changing, and with them, power.
- Technology disruption adds further strain. Generative AI, e-commerce, and hyper-personalisation demand technical fluency as much as creative vision.
The irony? In a world where customer experience defines competitive advantage, marketing should be more central than ever. Instead, too many CMOs are being sidelined.
Globally, the CMO is battling to stay relevant. In South Africa, the same trends are playing out, albeit more starkly due to local contextual pressures.
- Budget squeeze: Marketing budgets are shrinking as a share of company spend. Local CMOs must deliver more with less, sharpening the focus on measurable outcomes.
- Digital readiness gap: While AI adoption is climbing, many firms still lag in digital maturity. The hybrid customer experience, a blend of digital and physical touchpoints, remains an unsolved challenge.
- Reporting lines: Just as in global markets, fewer South African CMOs report directly to the CEO. Authority is eroded, and this undermines the influence of marketing in organisations.
- Purpose and authenticity: In our diverse and socially aware consumer landscape, authenticity and ESG alignment are non-negotiable. The bottom line? Marketing leaders who fail to articulate brand purpose risk irrelevance with younger, values-driven audiences.
Despite the data, the CMO is not dead. This role is evolving.
Forrester’s Ian Bruce points out that many marketing leaders are redefining their roles, expanding into customer retention, revenue development, and digital commerce. The CMO of the future is less a brand custodian and more a growth orchestrator.
Three shifts stand out:
- From storyteller to revenue driver. Marketing can no longer live in the abstract. CMOs who align brand-building with demand generation and measurable commercial outcomes are proving their worth.
- From functional leader to connector. Today’s CMO must break silos between sales, IT, product, and finance. The role is becoming the glue that aligns internal teams to the customer journey.
- From campaigner to technologist. AI, analytics, and automation are not side projects. They are core to marketing execution. CMOs who master them will outpace those who don’t.
This is less about extinction and more about adaptation. As Bruce put it: “The alternative is clear: change or be changed.”
The decline in CMO tenure reflects a brutal reality: when growth stalls, marketing is still the easiest scapegoat. But there is a fork in the road.
CMOs who cling to traditional definitions of the role risk being replaced by peers with titles like chief growth officer or chief customer officer. However, those who expand their remit, connect marketing to revenue, and adopt a digital-first approach will thrive.
In South Africa, where economic volatility and consumer expectations collide daily, the opportunity is even sharper. CMOs who embed authenticity, data-driven decision-making, and social responsibility into their growth playbook won’t just survive; they’ll redefine leadership for the next decade.
The lesson is blunt: in today’s economy, survival depends less on what your title says and more on how boldly you reimagine your role.
Tomorrow’s CMO is not a victim of change. The future CMO is the architect of it.
