Why CMO Tenure Remains Stubbornly Short

For 20 years, executive search and advisory firm Spencer Stuart has published data on chief marketing officer (CMO) tenure. Since 2022, the average number of years that marketing bosses stay in one role has hovered around 4 years.

ADWEEK can exclusively reveal that CMO tenure among S&P 500 companies now stands at 4.1 years in 2025, down slightly from 4.3 years in 2024. That compares to 5 years for all C-suite roles.

Chief executives (CEOs) stay an average of 7.6 years, while chief financial officers (CFOs) typically remain in post for 4.7. Only chief operating officers’ (COO) tenures were shorter, at 3.3 years on average, owing to their aspirations to step up to the CEO office.

The reason for the incremental year-on-year CMO tenure decline, according to Richard Sanderson, who leads Spencer Stuart’s marketing, sales, and communications officer practice in North America, is due to the influence of longtime CMO exits on the dataset. For instance, Raja Rajamannar left Mastercard after 13 years as chief marketing and communications officer.

While some might read CMOs’ comparatively short reigns as an indication they’re failing to make an impact or being fired, Sanderson said the data shows the opposite to be true.

“Short tenure is actually a function of the role,” he told ADWEEK, “because the CMO role is a developmental one that leads as a stepping stone or a springboard onto bigger things.”

Below, ADWEEK unpacks four of the top findings from Spencer Stuart’s 2025 CMO Tenure report.

1. CMOs are moving on up

When CMOs leave their role, they are likely to advance to bigger responsibilities, the report found.

Of the 218 CMO exits between 2021 and 2025, nearly two-thirds (62%) were either promoted at their company or went on to a similar or bigger role at another company.

Notably, 9% advanced to a CEO role, as Hinge’s Jackie Jantos did in 2025 after four years as marketing chief. 13% become a divisional CEO, COO, or president.

Of those leaving their organization, 77% of CMOs landed at a new company within six months. 

The CMO-to-CEO pipeline was more prominent at CPG brands like Procter & Gamble (P&G), where CMOs were often groomed for the CEO role. CMO tenure at these companies was the shortest of all the industries Spencer Stuart analyzed, at 3.5 years.

“Low CMO tenure is not a sign of failure. In fact, quite the opposite. It’s actually a sign of success, because so many of them are being promoted into other roles,” said Sanderson.

2. Brands are marketing without a CMO

In line with 2024’s findings, roughly a third (31%) of SP&P 500 companies do not have a CMO.

However, that doesn’t mean they don’t have a marketing boss; the responsibility simply sits elsewhere on the org chart.

Sanderson said companies are increasingly hiring for alternative or complementary positions, including chief growth officer (CGO), filled by Walmart in January, and chief revenue officer (CRO), adopted by Morningstar in late 2025.

These roles might not be CMO positions, but they typically include some responsibility for marketing and have brand and data specialists reporting into them, Sanderson observed.

“It’s not that marketing has gone away, but rather the set go-to-market capabilities have been restructured in a new way, for example, around a CRO,” he explained.

The CMO role isn’t dead, though. While some organizations, such as Unilever, are decentralizing marketing, others, like Disney, are doing the opposite and appointing their first formal CMO.

“It’s always fluid. Where one role is broken up, another is created,” observed Sanderson.

3. Hiring practices vary vastly

In Spencer Stuart’s 2025 sample, 62% of CMOs were appointed from within, while 38% were externally hired.

Of that latter group, 43% came from a different industry, suggesting companies are seeking a different perspective or capability set.

Some industries showed a more obvious pattern of hiring externally. This included financial services companies, which sourced 47% of CMOs from outside their businesses and 43% from outside the sector entirely. Sanderson said this demonstrated an increased recognition among these brands that marketing could be a revenue driver, as well as a need for them to strengthen their in-house development initiatives.

Fast-paced tech, telecom, and media firms were more likely to hire CMOs from within their own industry, with just 26% of marketers hired from outside these businesses arriving from a different sector.

4. 2026 is about pressure and opportunity

Per another study from Spencer Stuart, one-third of Fortune 500 companies expect to cut costs by 20% or more over the next two years, thanks in part to AI.

This financial pressure means CMOs and their counterparts will be squeezed further in 2026. However, for those willing to adapt, it’s also a moment to redefine marketing leadership by expanding their responsibilities.

“This is your golden age,” Sanderson said. “Strong marketing leaders have an opportunity to step up and take on a broader remit than ever before.”