Surveyed CEOs gave their CMO high marks for alignment with CEO and business objectives, effectiveness at building cross-functional relationships, and understanding company financials. But, on the critical business issues of strategy and growth, the reviews were more mixed.
That’s the central message of “The Boathouse Fifth Annual CEO Study” by Boathouse Group, Inc., a marketing agency based in Waltham, Massachusetts.
About the Study
Boathouse has been conducting this research since 2021. The fifth edition (2026) of the study is based on a survey of 150 CEOs at U.S. companies. Survey respondents led companies having annual revenue that ranged from $250 million to more than $1 billion.
Sixty-one percent (61%) of the respondents were with companies having more than 1,000 employees. Respondents were affiliated with companies operating in 16 industry verticals, with healthcare being the largest cohort (19% of all respondents).
The survey was conducted January 6 – 26, 2026.
The primary goal of this research was to capture the perspectives of CEOs regarding their CMO and their company’s marketing organization. The 2026 survey also included questions about how CEOs shape strategy and about their investment in, adoption of, and objectives for artificial intelligence.
The Boathouse study has two obvious limitations. First, the study is based on a survey with a relatively small number of respondents. And second, Boathouse does not claim that its survey panel is a representative sample of all CEOs. Therefore, the quantitative survey findings cannot be “projected” to all CEOs.
Where CMOs are Performing Well
Most of the CEOs surveyed by Boathouse were positive on several aspects of their CMO’s performance. For example:
79% of the survey respondents said their CMO shows a strong commitment to the CEO and Board of Directors. That was up slightly from 76% in the 2025 survey.72% said their CMO understands their company’s financials, up substantially from 61% in the 2025 survey.85% said their CMO builds trust within their company, down only slightly from 87% in the 2025 survey.In addition, 59% of the surveyed CEOs said their CMO understands their company’s business goals, and 70% said the metrics used by marketing are fully (12%) or mostly (58%) aligned with their company’s primary business metrics.
Mixed Reviews on Strategy
The CEOs participating in the Boathouse survey gave mixed reviews to their CMO when it comes to strategy.
First, the good news. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of the survey respondents said their CMO leads (8%) or actively contributes to (60%) the formulation of their company’s strategy. This finding suggests that many CMOs have successfully won a seat at the strategy table.
However, just under 20% of the surveyed CEOs gave their CMO a grade of “A” on strategy. That was down from nearly 35% in the 2025 edition of the survey.
The survey report doesn’t provide an explanation for the declining percentage of “A” grades, but it may be due to rising expectations. As more CEOs include their CMO in the strategy development process, some will have high expectations for the quality of the CMO’s contribution.
The Good and Not-So-Good News on Driving Growth
The CEOs surveyed by Boathouse also gave mixed reviews to their CMO (and their marketing organization) on driving revenue growth.
The survey findings clearly show that CEOs view growth as a critical business issue. Thirty-two percent (32%) of the survey respondents identified “growth performance” as the area of their business where they feel most personally exposed or vulnerable as CEO. The next highest percentage (21%) was for “competitive threats.”
CEOs also see growth as the primary mandate of their marketing organization, with 65% of the survey respondents citing “drive sales growth and/or grow market shares” as marketing’s top priority.
The good news is that 59% of the surveyed CEOs indicated they are “confident” in marketing’s ability to make a “meaningful” contribution to growth.
The not-so-good news is that only 13% of the survey respondents said they are “very confident” that their marketing organization can demonstrate the incremental lift provided by marketing investments.
While a general feeling of confidence is good, it may not be sufficient to persuade CEOs to prioritize marketing spending when difficult capital allocation decisions must be made. So, CMOs and other marketing leaders must keep working to provide credible proof of the financial impacts of their marketing activities and programs.
