CMO Tenure Study: An Expanded View of CMO Tenure and Backgrounds

As with prior years, this report tracks how CMO tenure and backgrounds have evolved, including the diversity of the CMOs at leading companies. The expanded data set, which includes a more diverse set of companies with broader industry representation, reflects the increasingly multifaceted nature of marketing today.

Here are some of our key findings:

Fortune 500 CMOs have been in their roles more than four years on average

The average tenure of Fortune 500 CMOs in 2022 was 51 months or 4.2 years, down slightly from 4.5 years in 2021. By comparison, the average tenure among CMOs of the top 100 advertisers was lower, at 3.3 years, largely due to the difference in size and composition of the two data sets. While the top 100 advertisers are all business-to-consumer (B2C) companies, the Fortune 500 companies with CMOs are evenly split between B2C and business-to-business (B2B) companies. Within the Fortune 500, the average tenure for CMOs at B2B companies is 4.4 years, compared to 4.1 years for CMOs of B2C companies.

Interestingly, despite the conventional wisdom that CMO role turns over more often than other C-suite positions, the average tenure of Fortune 500 CMOs is only two months shorter than the C-suite average.

Furthermore, shorter tenure should not necessarily be conflated with poor performance. In fact, it often is a sign of success and elevation to other roles. In the consumer-heavy top 100 advertisers group, for example, nearly 30 percent of CMOs were new in their jobs in 2022 — with a tenure of 12 months or less — compared with only 18 percent of Fortune 500 CMOs. CMOs of these consumer and retail-driven businesses are typically on a journey to more senior roles. Our research finds that 77 percent of exiting CMOs in the top 100 list go on to “bigger and better” roles, including general management positions and CMO roles at larger companies. By comparison, the CMO role of companies in the Fortune 500 is often a final destination in a career.

 

More gender and ethnic diversity among Fortune 500 and top 100 advertiser CMOs

Nearly half of Fortune 500 CMOs in 2022 — 47 percent — were women, an increase from 44 percent in 2021. Fourteen percent of CMOs were from historically underrepresented racial or ethnic groups, an increase from 12 percent in 2021.

The diversity of the top 100 advertiser CMOs increased as well. Women held 53 percent of CMO roles in 2022, compared with 50 percent a year earlier, and 18 percent of CMOs in 2022 were from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, up from 15 percent in 2021.

Most CMOs were promoted from within and serving as CMO for the first time

Fifty-four percent of Fortune 500 CMOs were promoted from within their current company, a decrease from 56 percent in 2021. Twenty-nine percent had prior experience as a CMO before being named to their current role. Among the CMOs who were hired from outside the company, 37 percent came from a different industry.

A higher percentage of CMOs of top advertisers — 60 percent — were promoted from within their company; 40 percent were hired from outside and 28 percent had prior CMO experience before moving into the role.

The “class of 2022” was more diverse and more likely to be promoted from within the company than CMOs overall

The Fortune 500 CMO class of 2022 — those serving in the role for 12 months or less — was even more diverse than the Fortune 500 CMOs as a whole: 49 percent were women and 25 percent were people from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. Among the top 100 class of 2022, 46 percent were women and 32 percent were from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.

Of the 59 Fortune 500 CMOs who were appointed during 2022, 70 percent were promoted from within the company and 68 percent were first-time CMOs. Among the top 100 advertisers, 28 CMOs were appointed in 2022; 95 percent were promoted from within the company and 71 percent were first-time CMOs. The high percentage of internally promoted CMOs may suggest that CEOs are feeling confident in the company’s longer-term succession and leadership development planning for the marketing function.

Methodology

The study is based on an analysis of the tenures and backgrounds of CMOs from the 100 companies included in the Ad Age Leading National Advertisers list and the 320 named CMOs of Fortune 500 companies as of Dec. 31, 2022.