Some businesses are struggling to provide smooth customer experiences due to departmental fragmentation and a lack of clarity about who is responsible for customer-related functions. Between 2023 and 2024, McKinsey research found that fewer CEOs believe that marketing is clearly understood by the C-suite; the share saying so declined by 20 percentage points, note Senior Partner Kelsey Robinson and coauthors. Additionally, marketing budgets have shrunk while the C-suite continues to seek growth, demonstrating a gap between CEO growth targets and marketing’s perceived value.
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A line graph shows the share of CEOs who believe marketing is clearly defined and understood by the C-suite, with a decline from 90% in 2023 to 70% in 2024, representing a 20-percentage-point decrease.
Note: This image description was completed with the assistance of Writer, a gen AI tool. Source: McKinsey CMO Growth Research Survey, 2023 (n = 101) and 2024 (n = 77).
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To read the article, see “The CMO’s comeback: Aligning the C-suite to drive customer-centric growth,” June 16, 2025.