CMOs Are Getting Benched (And McKinsey's Data Shows It's Killing Growth)

Look, I just read some McKinsey research that should make every marketer's blood boil. And I'm not talking about another fluffy study—I'm talking about hard data that exposes what's really happening in C-suites across major companies.

Here's What McKinsey Found (And It's Wild)

McKinsey's researchers discovered that the gap between CEOs and CMOs has grown by 20% recently¹. Twenty percent! At the exact moment when companies are desperate for growth.

But wait, it gets worse. Their data shows only 50% of CMOs are involved in strategic planning with their CEOs¹. Think about that for a second. Half of the people who are supposed to understand customers better than anyone else aren't even in the room when big decisions get made.

And here's the part that really got my attention—McKinsey found that 65% of CEOs think they totally get modern marketing. But only 30% of CMOs agree¹. As Shelley Stewart III put it: "That's really troubling, and again, at a time when CEOs are grappling with all sorts of other issues, this disconnect is to the detriment of the customer and growth."

The Numbers Don't Lie (But They'll Make You Mad)

Here's what's really messing with my head from their research: Both CEOs and CMOs—80% of them—told McKinsey that marketing is underfunded¹. They're literally agreeing that they need more marketing investment. But data shows marketing budgets actually went DOWN from 9.1% to 7.7% of sales this past year¹.

What the hell is happening here?

Kelsey Robinson nailed it: "There's clearly a disconnect between the aspiration for funding the discipline and the growth executives want to see."

Their research revealed that executive teams have exploded by 50% in five years¹.

It points out that we've added all these great roles—chief digital officer, chief data officer, chief revenue officer, sometimes chief customer officer—sometimes all alongside a CMO. As Robinson explains: "That means there isn't one person thinking end to end about strategic growth for customer acquisition or retention. While everyone is responsible for that, no one really is."

Data Shows the Missed Opportunity is MASSIVE

Here's what really gets me fired up about the findings. It shows companies that actually get marketing executives involved in strategic planning see 1.4x higher top-line growth¹. And when there's a single, integrated customer-centric executive in the top team? Growth becomes 2.3x¹.

Perfectly put: "When marketing leaders are embedded in strategic decision-making and take responsibility for a customer-centric growth strategy, companies perform better."

That's not incremental improvement. That's game-changing, competition-crushing impact.

But instead, 70% of CEOs judge marketing success by year-over-year revenue or margin growth, while only 35% of CMOs even have margin growth on their radar¹. As Robinson notes: "That lack of alignment shows the challenge many companies are facing."

McKinsey's Advice: Time for CMOs to Get Scrappy

Nine out of ten CEOs don't have marketing backgrounds¹. They didn't grow up in our world of attribution models and customer journey mapping. So we can't just throw marketing jargon at them and expect them to get it.

Stewart and Robinson are "on a singular mission to bring CMOs back," and they've identified three critical moves:

• Own the damn customer. McKinsey says give marketing "custody of the customer"—let marketing really own the customer journey and be the single point that feeds the rest of the organization. As Stewart explains: "This is about having deep insight into questions like: 'Who are our customers today? Who are our potential customers? What do they care about?'"
  

• Think like a GM.  CMOs "have not grown up with a general manager mindset." Their advice? "The onus is on the CMO to hook into the chassis of financial, strategic, and business unit goals in a much more integrated way."
  

• Build measurement that matters. Emphasis is on working with the CEO and CFO to create "a measurement system that aligns activities to the outcomes the business cares about—ultimately, growth."

  
  

The GM Example Highlighted

McKinsey studied what GM's CMO Norm de Greve did when he took over the role. According to their research, he did three things that worked¹:

1. First, he developed a measurement framework spanning everything from top- to bottom-funnel metrics, getting alignment on definitions and trade-offs.
   

2. Second, he supported a holistic portfolio approach across GM's brands.
   

3. Third, he established regular dialogue cadence with the CFO and broader leadership team.

The assessment? "GM has seen strong year-on-year growth as a result and real success in some of its primary objectives for EVs too."

Bottom Line: Stop Waiting for Permission

Here's what I love about their practical advice. Robinson suggests CMOs should proactively ask: "How am I coming to the table, and how am I trying to make sure my function is accountable? You've already changed the dynamic relative to most companies."

And Stewart's approach is brilliant—don't make the conversation about marketing budgets. Instead, as he puts it: "Make it about the customer. Make it clear that what matters now likely sits across different places in the organization. Even that level of transparency can force a very good discussion."

The Future Belongs to the Aligned

This research comes at a critical moment. As Stewart observed at Cannes Lions, leaders are "navigating an incredibly dynamic and complex set of situations: the rapid rise of gen AI, geopolitical uncertainty, reshaping supply chains, and much more fragmented customer behavior."

His warning? "There's a temptation in these moments of disruption to focus on efficiencies in productivity and cost. While those are important, they can't come at the expense of also focusing on growth."

This data proves that companies figuring out how to align their CMO, CEO, and CFO around customer-centric growth are going to dominate. Those that don't? They're going to keep making strategic decisions without their customer experts in the room.

The research is crystal clear. The opportunity is sitting right there. The only question is whether you're going to step up and grab it.

Your move, marketers.