CEOs Flip On Marketing, Now Call It A Cost Center, Not A Profit Driver

Only 40% of CEOs categorize marketing as a profit center, compared to 65% in last year's Boathouse CEO survey

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.

That surprising finding is from the fifth annual Boathouse CEO Study, which surveyed 150 CEOs of major U.S. companies in January 2026. The results suggest that marketing's credibility is also eroding, even though CMOs appear to be meeting expectations better than ever.

CMOs Did What Was Asked, And Got Lower Marks

By almost every measure of alignment and loyalty, CMOs are at a five-year high. In the eyes of the responding CEOs, seventy-nine percent show strong commitment to the CEO and board, the best number in the study's history. Seventy-one percent prioritize company interests over their own function, reversing years of skepticism. Eighty-five percent are seen as trust builders within the organization.

There are a few signs of trouble, though. Only 15% of CMOs received an "A" from their CEO this year, down from 24% a year ago and 26% two years ago. 54% were rated "average." CEO confidence in the CMO role overall dropped to 43%.

The data shows the role that has gotten better at being a good partner and worse at being seen as a good investment.

The AI Trap for CMOs

"CMOs have become highly aligned operators inside the system, but not independent drivers of enterprise value," says John Connors, CEO of Boathouse, which conducted the study. "Alignment was step one. Now CMOs must prove enterprise value, not channel performance."

The conventional wisdom for years has been that CMOs need to get closer to the CEO, speak the language of finance, and align with the board. The data suggests that CMOs have done that. CEO confidence in their marketing leader's P&L understanding is at 72%, up from 61%. CMO board presentations are increasing. The CMO-CFO partnership on metrics is rated effective by two-thirds of CEOs.

None of that apparent progress stopped the cost center reclassification.

What changed? The study offers clues. Discussions between CEOs and CMOs are shifting toward metrics and performance and away from ideas and strategy. CEOs still primarily view the CMO as an execution leader (57%) rather than a strategic advisor (43%). And 40% of CEOs give their CMO a "C" or lower on strategy and the ability to drive company growth.

CMOs increased alignment but lost influence.

What Should CMOs Do Differently?

The 85% of CEOs who believe the CMO role will still exist in five years shows that the job itself isn't going away. But the data suggests its scope could narrow. Only 8% of CEOs say their CMO leads enterprise strategy, and just 36% think their CMO has CEO potential.

The CMOs who will reverse the drift toward marketing being thought of as a cost center aren’t the ones doubling down on dashboards and quarterly reviews. They're the ones willing to push back on the metrics-first conversations and bring their CEO something unexpected, like a new a market narrative that reframes where growth comes from, or an AI play their CEO hasn't considered..

The Boathouse study has been tracking the CMO role for five years now, and the trendline is clear: marketing leaders who optimize for alignment without asserting strategic value end up well-liked but underfunded.