The tenure of chief marketing officers remained at 40 months in 2021, the shortest time span in over a decade, The Wall Street Journal reported May 5.
CEOs tend to stay in their roles for 85 months, more than twice as long as chief marketing officers. Some experts are arguing that the role for marketing executives has gotten harder, with them now having to manage increasing pressure to drive growth, a complex landscape and a politically polarized consumer base.
"In some organizations, just the expectations for CMOs are just so out of whack with the reality of what a CMO can really deliver on the timelines, and with the resources and with the headwinds that they have," said Chris Ross, a vice president analyst at research firm Gartner. "I think that in some organizations, you’re just being set up to fail, right?"
However, more women than ever are taking the reins for the top marketing job, with 51 percent of chief marketing officers being women in 2021, up from 47 percent in 2020. Only 15 percent of chief marketing officers come from diverse backgrounds though.