Imagine once more the weekly executive team meeting of the company at the beginning of our story—now one year later. The CMO once again reports that brand metrics are reaching historical highs. This time, however, marketing-campaign activities are tied to distinct metrics that the CMO and CFO agreed on together. The company’s sales department used marketing insights to rethink how to effectively communicate with and serve the customer to better reflect the customers’ needs. When it’s time for the CFO to deliver their report, they reinforce these strong numbers and add that continued marketing investment should help the company reach its ambitious growth objectives. The CEO then supports the additional investment because finance and marketing worked together to develop a deeper understanding of how marketing activities drive bottom-line performance. So much has changed for this company since that meeting a year ago. Marketing has reclaimed its role as the custodian of the customer, and the revised measurement system, along with new mindsets, has fostered a stronger, more cohesive C-suite built on data and trust. This new alignment is delivering better results for customers, employees, partners, and investors alike. ffififl ff–ff   flff–ff fl ffififl ff–ffflflfffifffiffflffff ffififl ff–ff–    – Designed by McKinsey Global Publishing Copyright © 2025 McKinsey & Company. All rights reserved. Aurélia Bettati is a partner in McKinsey’s Paris office, Jeff Jacobs is a partner in the Chicago office, Kelsey Robinson is a senior partner in the Boston office, and Robert Tas is a partner in the Connecticut office. The authors wish to thank Paul Moreau and Varun Mehrotra for their contributions to this article. McKinsey would like to thank the Association of National Advertisers for participating in this study. As with all McKinsey research, this work is independent, reflects our own views, and has not been influenced by any business, government, or other institution. This article was edited by Christine Y. Chen, a senior editor in the Denver office. 11 The CMO’s comeback: Aligning the C-suite to drive customer-centric growth