The Future of the CMO: Why Marketing's Top Job is Being Rewritten

May. 27, 2025

Marketing’s top job isn’t dying, it’s evolving dramatically and after four years of research with CMOs and challenger brands, Rival’s The Future of the CMO reveals why the CMO role is under siege and how forward-thinking leaders can seize this moment of transformation.

Three Skills for the Next-Gen CMO

• Speak Boardroom, Not Buzzwords: Future CMOs must link marketing to revenue margin, and shareholder value - in plain language.
• Deliver Commercial Results: Show the link between spend and sales — or risk being replaced by a Chief Growth Officer (CGO) who will.
• Master Data and Tech: Future leaders don’t outsource tech literacy — they own it.

Rival Co-Founder and CEO Eric Fulwiler explained:

“Only 71% of Fortune 500 companies now have a CMO, down from 74% in 2009. With the shortest   C-suite tenure at just 40 months, it's easy to jump to pessimistic conclusions. But this isn't about extinction—it's about adaptation.”

 

Fulwiler added:

"The old marketing playbook focused on awareness. The new one demands differentiation that truly lands, strategic arbitrage, and genuine talkability. Today's top marketers don't just sell the brand—they scale the business."

 

The Future of the CMO features insights from marketing leaders including Kristen Cavallo (former CEO, The Martin Agency), Gary Survis (Head of Marketing, Insight Partners), Raja Rajamannar (CMO, Mastercard), Meghan Davis (CEO, Dr. Scholls), Andrew Garrihy (former CMO, Huawei), and Dean Aragon (CEO and Vice Chairman, Shell Brands International), Professor Rajesh Bhargave (Associate Professor of Marketing at Imperial College Business School).