There is no shortage of criticism of marketing organizations. The declining length of tenure of Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) and the absence of marketing on boards of directors are well-documented. Such facts seem odd when demand generation and management are the lifeblood of organizations, at least those with a high probability of long-term survival. While such a circumstance may suggest some problems with marketing organizations, it very clearly identifies a problem at the level of the firm; a problem only the CEO and the board can address.
In many organizations, marketing is treated as a functional silo—important, but often secondary to finance and operations. Frequently tasked with communications, marketing is viewed as tactical rather than strategic. Yet in a competitive, customer-driven economy, the firm’s success depends on understanding and responding to customers’ needs. John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil, stated: “Don’t blame the marketing department. The buck stops with the chief executive.” David Packard, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, observed that “Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department.” Such views suggest that the Chief Executive Officer should be the firm’s Chief Marketing Officer, even if the title is given to someone else in the organization. When the CEO has direct responsibility for marketing leadership, the firm benefits from stronger strategic alignment, more compelling brand authenticity, faster decision-making, and a culture that focuses on delivering value to the customer, which is the ultimate driver of long-term profitability.
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There are a number of good reasons for the CEO assuming responsibility for marketing, and for boards to insist that CEO’s accept such responsibility. First, marketing is about understanding and delivering value to customers, which is the central purpose of any business and the driver of profits. If the CEO is responsible for defining corporate vision and strategy, then marketing cannot be delegated entirely downward without risking misalignment. A CEO who also functions as CMO ensures that brand positioning, product development, pricing, and customer experience are integrated with corporate goals. Instead of marketing campaigns being reactive or disconnected from strategy, they become the means for executing the firm’s mission. Such alignment also reduces internal friction and eliminates the common problem of departments competing for influence rather than collaborating around customer outcomes.
Second, the CEO-as-CMO model strengthens brand authenticity. Brands are not merely logos or advertising messages—they are promises to customers and other stakeholders; they define the relationship of the firm and customer. When the CEO champions marketing strategy, messaging carries greater credibility both internally and externally. Employees see that customer experience is a priority of the firm and its leadership and there is consistency between leadership statements and brand actions. Such consistency and the accompanying authenticity are difficult to achieve when marketing is separated from executive leadership.
Third, CEOs who lead marketing facilitate faster and better-informed decision-making. Business decisions frequently require trade-offs between short-term revenue and long-term brand equity, between cost efficiency and customer satisfaction. If the CEO understands and owns these trade-offs, decisions will be faster and clearer than what occurs when there are layers of approval and opportunities for misinterpretation. Such agility is particularly critical in industries that contend with rapid changes in customer preferences or technology. Firms that respond quickly to market signals tend to outperform competitors with slower, hierarchical decision-making processes.
Real-world examples of such an advantage are easy to find. Steve Jobs treated marketing as inseparable from product design and corporate vision at Apple. His leadership focused obsessively on customer experience, brand storytelling, and emotional connection with users. At Amazon, founder Jeff Bezos has embedded an obsession with customers within the company’s culture, making marketing a CEO-level responsibility. In both of these examples, marketing was not just about communication—it drove product innovation and strategic direction.
Another benefit of CEO-led marketing is cultural impact. Organizational culture flows from leadership priorities. When the CEO champions the customer, employees across departments recognize that customer insights matter. Product design decisions are made with greater consideration of the user experience, operations teams focus on service quality, and financial decisions are made through the lens of customer lifetime value rather than short-term margins alone. Cross-functional customer orientation is a potential source of competitive advantage because it is difficult for competitors to replicate such a culture.
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Business success relies heavily on data analytics, personalization, and digital platforms. Customer insights inform product development, supply chain planning, and strategic partnerships. Such insights have enterprise-wide implications that transcend any single functional area. Thus, it is logical for the CEO—who oversees all functions—to integrate market intelligence directly into management decisions rather than depend on the interpretation of such intelligence by others. The CEO acting as CMO ensures that customer data is not trapped within one department but leveraged across the organization.
The CEO-as-CMO model does not require the CEO to micromanage marketing or replace marketing professionals. CEOs direct financial strategy without performing accounting tasks; they can also direct marketing without being responsible for designing specific advertisements. Rather, it means the CEO assumes strategic ownership of marketing direction, customer insight, and brand stewardship while operational activities remain with marketing teams.
The CEO-as-CMO model does require strong marketing literacy on the part of the CEO, as they need to understand how value is created and perceived in the marketplace. In selecting new CEO’s, Boards of Directors might heed the words of Peter Drucker: “Marketing is not a function; it is the whole business seen from the customer’s point of view. Marketing and innovation make money. Everything else is a cost.”
Contributed to Branding Strategy Insider by Dr. David Stewart, Emeritus Professor of Marketing and Business Law, Loyola Marymount University, Author, Financial Dimensions Of Marketing Decisions, and Chairman of the Marketing Accountability Standard Board.
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