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Only 15 percent of the CEOs polled in a new survey from Boathouse think that their CMO merits an “A” for job performance, as opposed to the 53 percent who rank their CMO as “average.”
Boathouse’s Fifth Annual CEO Study finds that while a large majority (79 percent) of CEOs are in alignment with their CMO, that does not always translate into confidence in the CMO’s ability to get results. Four out of ten CEOs would give their CMO a grade of “C” or lower when it comes to strategy and the ability to drive company growth.
CEOs also seem to feel that the ability of marketing overall to demonstrate financial impact is less than it could be, with only 13 percent saying they are “very confident” marketing can achieve that goal. However, 59 percent still think that marketing does make a contribution to a company’s growth.
That softening of faith is also reflected in the fact that 60 percent of respondents now regard marketing as a cost center, up 20 percent from last year’s study.
However, there is an upside when it comes to the CEO/CMO relationship. Almost three-quarters (74 percent of CEOs) say that CMOs push the organization forward, 80 percent say their CMO understands board and internal dynamics and 85 percent think that their CMO builds organizational trust.
CEOs are also becoming more bullish on the financial fluency of their CMO. In the latest study, 78 percent said their CMO understands the company’s profit-and-loss statement and balance sheet. That’s up from 61 percent in last year’s study.
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While there is also a general consensus (79 percent) that CMOs understand their company’s board and political dynamics, that is down from 82 percent last year.
There is also a feeling that many CMOs are not solidly ahead of the game with regard to artificial intelligence. Only six percent of survey respondents assigned their CMO an “A” for their AI capability, with 48 percent meriting a “B,” 36 percent a “C,” and seven percent a “D.”
Expectations for AI’s effect on marketing are high.
Ten percent of respondent said that AI is “already delivering measureabkle impact,” with 14 percent predicting that impact within six months, 38 percent in six to 12 months, and 29 percent in from 12 to 24 month.
But, how about the future of the CMO position itself? A large majority (85 percent) of that position will still exist. However, far fewer (36 percent) think their CMO has what it takes to eventually sit in the CEO chair.
Boathouse’s study. which surveyed 150 CEOs, was conducted between January 6 and 26.
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