CEOs' views of CMOs continue to be more about execution than strategy, per Boathouse’s annual CEO survey, and while trust and alignment between CEOs and CMOs are strong, CEOs still want more business results.

The annual survey of CEOs on the CMO role showed lower performance ratings and more leaders viewing the marketing function as a cost center.

Marketing is under more pressure than ever to prove its impact on business growth, and Boathouse’s fifth annual CEO Study offers a clear look at how CEOs are evaluating that impact today.

While CEOs are increasingly confident in the CMO’s understanding of their company’s finances, overall CEO faith in the CMO role has declined to 43%.

More CEOs consider their chief marketing officers to be loyal—that’s the good news.

If you’re doing well in the eyes of your boss, chances are you’re going to keep your job for at least a little while.

A year ago, 65% of CEOs called marketing a profit center. This year, that number shrank to just 40%. In the space of twelve months, marketing went from a growth engine to an overhead line item.

Over the past two decades, marketing has been in a constant state of reinvention. Marketers digitized media, went mobile, and operationalized performance. Teams went from using third-party to first-party data; companies built data lakes. Attribution was adopted.  AI was layered in. Each evolution promised greater precision and greater accountability.

New research reveals a concerning disconnect between improved CEO-CMO relationships and declining business impact ratings. The fourth annual CEO Study on Marketing and the CMO from Boathouse show a paradoxical shift in how chief executives perceive their marketing leaders.

The good news: Chief executive officers trust their chief marketing officers more than they did in the past. The bad: This change in relationship hasn’t necessarily resulted in more credibility for marketing as a function.