Marketing’s remit is often relegated to just advertising. Only half of the CMOs we surveyed believe that marketing executives are involved in the strategic-planning process. This limits CMOs’ impact on broader business goals and obfuscates the connection between marketing activities and company objectives. At the heart of the issue is a failure to understand the complexity of the marketing levers needed to drive customer demand. While more CEOs in this survey say they feel comfortable with modern marketing (64 percent, up from 48 percent the previous year), only 31 percent of CMOs believe their CEOs are comfortable, down four percentage points from last year (Exhibit 2). Exhibit 2 Web <2025> Exhibit <2> of <4> Share of CEOs who feel comfortable with modern marketing, 1 % Share of CMOs 2 who feel their CEO counterparts are comfortable with modern marketing, 1 % 1 Respondents answering 8–10 on a scale of 1 to 10. 2 Chief marketing officers. Source: McKinsey CMO Growth Research Survey, 2023 (n = 101) and 2024 (n = 77) Although CEOs say they feel comfortable with modern marketing, many chief marketing officers think otherwise. McKinsey & Company 48 64 35 31 2023 percentage points +16 2024 2023 percentage points –4 2024 Only half of the CMOs we surveyed believe that marketing executives are involved in the strategic-planning process. 5 The CMO’s comeback: Aligning the C-suite to drive customer-centric growth