How long have chief marketing officers been on the job at large enterprises and advertisers? What are the backgrounds of those CMOs?

To find out, Spencer Stuart looked at the 320 named CMOs on the Fortune 500 companies in 2022 list as well as the CMOs of the 100 companies on the Ad Age Leading National Advertisers in 2022 list.

The researchers found that the average tenure of Fortune 500 CMOs is 4.2 years, roughly on par with the average tenure for the rest of the C-suite (4.4 years). Within the Fortune 500, the average tenure for CMOs at B2B companies is 4.4 years, compared with 4.1 years for CMOs at B2C companies.

Some 47% of Fortune 500 CMOs are women and 53% of CMOs at the top advertisers are women. Only 14% of Fortune 500 CMOs come from historically underrepresented racial or ethnic groups.

Some 54% of Fortune 500 CMOs were promoted from within their current company and 60% of CMOs at the top advertisers were promoted from within their current company.

 

Among the 59 Fortune 500 CMOs appointed in 2022, 70% were promoted from within the company. Among the 28 CMOs appointed at the top 100 advertisers in 2022, 95% were promoted from within the company.

About the research: The report was based on data from an analysis of the 320 named CMOs on the Fortune 500 companies in 2022 list as well as the CMOs of the 100 companies on the Ad Age Leading National Advertisers in 2022 list.