Understanding and engaging with the customer was once marketing’s responsibility. But, as consumers move across digital channels with varying degrees of trust in what brands were telling them, the old frameworks that deciphered their behaviour started to falter.
Buying habits also changed and became more individual to the customer persona. Fast-forward to 2025 and nearly a quarter (24%) of UK consumers feel pessimistic about the economy – becoming more price-conscious, deal-driven and willing to ‘trade down’. This change has caused a significant rethink in how to engage the modern consumer and how to deliver the right product, on the right channel, at exactly the right moment.
This rethink has led to an expansion of the C-suite, giving rise to new roles such as the chief commercial, data and digital officers – each claiming part of the customer journey and fragmenting ownership across digital, ecommerce and marketing departments.
This has created a growing gap between the CEO and the CMO. Recent research shows that 64% of CEOs believe they’re comfortable with modern marketing, but only 31% of CMOs agree that their CEOs are comfortable with it – a 20% increase in disparity since 2023. The phenomenon is not just a communication breakdown but a misfire in strategy, influence and accountability for growth.
A fragmented remit is debilitating CMOs
The divide has forced the CMO onto the sidelines of the boardroom. Only half of all CMOs now report their involvement in strategic planning, which limits their oversight and impact on broader business goals. With the CMO slipping into the back seat, the focus on the customer is often forgotten. Only 15% of organisations are consistently bringing customer-centric thinking into their decision-making. When everyone is responsible for the customer, no one truly is.
The metrics aren’t helping
Part of the problem lies in how marketing measures and communicates its impact. Operational KPIs in marketing can feel like a veritable alphabet soup: ROAS, CTR, CLV, TOP, CPC, SQLs. While these KPIs are essential for managing campaign and platform performance, they often fail to resonate with the rest of the C-suite.
CEOs are more fluent in a different language – growth. They want hard numbers, such as year-on-year revenue growth and margin. In fact, 70% of CEOs say those are the benchmarks they use to judge marketing’s effectiveness. Yet only 35% of CMOs prioritise the metrics of year-on-year growth. It’s little wonder the partnership feels misaligned when the yardsticks are so different.
The comeback story starts with customer-centric growth
Despite challenges, there’s a clear path to realignment. Fortune 500 companies that appoint a single growth- or customer-oriented leader see up to 2.3 times more growth than those who don’t. And who better to own this role than the CMO, the original growth driver?
However, that leadership has to be earned, not assumed. It means forming stronger bonds across the C-suite, especially with the CFO. Ultimately, when marketing metrics are co-owned and endorsed by finance, they gain legitimacy and marketing regains trust. These roles need to align on marketing ROI efforts and impact, including what gets measured, how it’s measured and why it matters.
On top of that, CMOs must lead the charge in converting tech adoption into tangible business value. For example, 71% of consumers expect personalised ads, which AI is uniquely placed to deliver. But technology is an enabler, not a strategy in and of itself. The real question is: how is it being used to drive growth, sharpen insights and enhance customer connection?
Moving from insight to action
The CEO-CMO gap has widened, but it can be repaired. CMOs must step up, not just as marketers, but as growth architects, customer champions and commercial strategists. And CEOs must bring them in, not box them out.
The road to growth starts with reconnection, because it’s when marketing and business strategy align that customer-centricity flourishes.
Aurélia Bettati is a partner at McKinsey
Understanding and engaging with the customer was once marketing’s responsibility. But, as consumers move across digital channels with varying degrees of trust in what brands were telling them, the old frameworks that deciphered their behaviour started to falter.
Buying habits also changed and became more individual to the customer persona. Fast-forward to 2025 and nearly a quarter (24%) of UK consumers feel pessimistic about the economy – becoming more price-conscious, deal-driven and willing to ‘trade down’. This change has caused a significant rethink in how to engage the modern consumer and how to deliver the right product, on the right channel, at exactly the right moment.
This rethink has led to an expansion of the C-suite, giving rise to new roles such as the chief commercial, data and digital officers – each claiming part of the customer journey and fragmenting ownership across digital, ecommerce and marketing departments.
