New Report: CMO Tenure Hits 43 Months, Varies by Gender

In its definitive CMO tenure report, Winmo finds that female CMOs, which make up about 42 percent of tenures across industries, rotate up and out of roles five months sooner than their male counterparts (37.5 months vs. 43 months).

This was the first year that gender parity was included in the report, which considered over 2,400 CMO data points across national advertisers with media spend above $2 million, investigating CMO tenure by duration, industry, and more. The report is the broadest and most conclusive examination of marketing leadership tenure to date.

On average, Winmo finds that overall CMO tenure is 43 months (3.5 years), while CMOs are more likely to rotate up and out of roles between 30 and 45 months.

“This report provides a level of granularity that’s never been covered for CMO tenures,” said Jennifer Groese, Winmo’s Vice President of Marketing. “Not all CMOs are the same, and this analysis sheds light on how marketing executives across different industries and of different genders typically rotate up and out of their current roles.”

Beyond the high-level takeaways about CMO tenure and gender parity, Winmo’s report also delves into more specific findings within industry and gender. Key takeaways include:

• CMO tenure is, on average, half the duration of average CEO tenure (3.6 years vs. 7.2 years)
• Financial Services and Travel industries lead average duration (48 months), while Digital Business Providers (online-only businesses) have the shortest average tenure at 29 months
• Digital Business Providers (online-only businesses) represent the greatest gender parity among the top five industries analyzed, where women represent 50 percent of all tenures.
• The CMO position represents the most gender parity among C-suite positions at 42 percent. The next-leading position is the CFO role, with female leaders representing 12 percent of positions

For more detailed insights about CMO tenure, download the full report here.