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CMO Tenure Study: Women outnumber men for first time in CMO role

Tenure ties last year, remaining at lowest level in more than a decade
April 2022

We are pleased to share our 18th annual CMO Tenure Study. This report tracks how CMO tenure and backgrounds have evolved, including the diversity of the CMOs at leading companies. Our study is based on the analysis of the tenures of CMOs from 100 of the most advertised U.S. brands as of Dec. 31, 2021. Here are some of our key findings:

Women outnumber men in the CMO role for the first time since our study began tracking gender and ethnic diversity: 51% of CMOs in the Ad Age top 100 advertisers in 2021 were women. This milestone is the result of a significant increase in the percentage of newly appointed CMOs; 71% of freshman CMOs in 2021 were women, up from 52% in 2020.

But consistent with last year, ethnic and racial diversity continues to lag. Overall, just 15% of CMOs in 2021 were from a traditionally underrepresented racial or ethnic group, a modest increase from 13% in 2020. This is surprising given the increased demand we are seeing from clients for leaders from diverse backgrounds and their commitment to making real progress in this area. The good news is that the freshman class is slightly more diverse, with 18% of the incoming CMOs in 2021 coming from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group, compared with 11% in 2020.

Women
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Diversity
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Average CMO tenure remained remarkably low at 40 months, tying last year as the lowest level in more than a decade. However, median tenure, at 28 months, inched closer to the pre-pandemic 2019 level of 30 months. We expect the continued turnover has been the result of companies attempting to improve their overall diversity, and has been compounded by the ongoing pandemic, which has put pressure on many sectors.

Disconcerting is that the gap between CMO tenure and CEO tenure, which continues to climb — CEOs now stay in their roles more than twice as long as CMOs. Boards were reticent to change CEOs during a crisis. In 2021, average CEO tenure was more than double the CMO tenure at 85 months. We anticipate that as this new class of CMOs (some of whom already fit culturally as they were promoted into the role) will enjoy longer run rates in the future. Yet, we expect continued, intense pressure on marketing leaders to drive profitable growth and meet changing transformation demands and resultant volatility.

We also saw a spike in external hires of CMOs compared to internal promotion in 2021. External hiring is often a sign that CEOs are looking for fresh and innovative thinking from their marketing teams as the “old way of doing things” just isn’t enough anymore. External hires increased to 45% in 2021 from 37% in 2020. Even when organizations hired first-time CMOs, they were more likely to look externally.

Among first-time CMOs, 30% were hired externally, almost double the 16% in 2020. Other organizations looked to external talent to upgrade capabilities around creative, brand, product, media, acquisitions, the customer journey, customer experience, marketing technology, CRM and e-commerce. Some companies were driven to look externally for talent to help build their team’s diversity.

Fifty-five percent of CMOs were promoted from within, which is down from 63% in 2020 and 64% in 2019. In light of this trend and after weathering the pandemic and subsequent “Great Resignation,” CMOs may need to increase their focus on succession planning. We are pleased to see a renewed focus from many top CMOs, taking to heart the need to have disciplined plans in place to have their backfill ready, which also minimizes unexpected departures of those a level below.

CMO Tenure Full Data
Tenure (Mos) Median (Mos) Female Diverse First-Time

2021

40

28

51%

15%

66%

2020

40

25.5

47%

13%

62%

2019

41.1

30

43%

14%

72%

2018

42.5

27.5

36%

10%

71%

2017

44

31

28%

11%

68%

2016

42

27

23%

9%

70%

2015

44.1

26.5

-

-

-

2014

48

35.5

-

-

-

2013

45.4

34

-

-

-

2012

45.1

33

-

-

-

2011

43.3

36

-

-

-

2010

42

-

-

-

-

2009

34.7

-

-

-

-

2008

28.4

-

-

-

-

2007

26.8

-

-

-

-

2006

23.2

-

-

-

-

2005

23.5

-

-

-

-

2004

23.6

-

-

-

-

"-" denotes data not available.