to impact across the marketing funnel , since some aspects of marketing don’t have major shifts from year to year. This exacerbates the disconnect. As one CFO of a global gaming company explains, “Once we as a C-suite—including the CMO—agree on company goals, strategies, and business metrics we’re trying to achieve, I expect the CMO to tie marketing metrics and connect marketing activities to that big picture. I don’t want to hear about brand awareness if that’s not what we agreed upon as a company goal.” CMOs continue to struggle to show their impact on the business, with the gap getting worse. Of the CMO respondents in our survey, 79 percent understand how marketing KPIs are aligned with overall growth KPIs, compared with 88 percent in our previous survey. And only 30 percent of CMOs believe there is a clearly defined view on what constitutes marketing ROI, compared with 40 percent before (Exhibit 4). Putting marketing in the driver’s seat To unlock marketing’s full potential to drive growth, business leaders can start by addressing the disconnects we’ve discussed. This alignment is crucial for fostering innovation, enhancing customer satisfaction, and achieving sustainable, profitable growth. Once marketing is front and center, organizations can leverage its deep customer insights, strategic capabilities, and technology tools (such as gen AI and agentic AI ) to navigate market challenges and capitalize on new opportunities. Exhibit 4 Web <2025> Exhibit <4> of <4> Share of CMOs 1 who understand how marketing KPIs are aligned with their companies’ KPIs for business growth, % Share of CMOs who feel their organizations have a clearly defined view of what constitutes marketing ROI, % 1 Chief marketing officers. Source: McKinsey CMO Growth Research Survey, 2023 (n = 101) and 2024 (n = 77) Chief marketing officers continue to struggle to show how marketing affects business growth. McKinsey & Company 88 79 40 30 2023 percentage points –9 2024 2023 percentage points –10 2024 7 The CMO’s comeback: Aligning the C-suite to drive customer-centric growth