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 tech industry bursts with innovation. It is acclaimed for its creativity and breakthrough approaches to solving age-old problems. And yet paradoxically, here in 2024, it still struggles with diversity and inclusion – especially when it comes to leadership.

"Headline after headline spells the downfall of not just X, but of Elon Musk himself. The undeniable truth though, as hard a pill it may be to swallow, is that X isn't going anywhere," explained Geoff Gates, creative director for social strategy and content at integrated marketing and communications agency Boathouse Inc.