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| Supply: Boathouse Group, Inc. |
Surveyed CEOs gave their CMO excessive marks for alignment with CEO and enterprise aims, effectiveness at constructing cross-functional relationships, and understanding firm financials. However, on the important enterprise problems with technique and progress, the critiques have been extra blended.
That is the central message of “The Boathouse Fifth Annual CEO Examine” by Boathouse Group, Inc., a advertising company based mostly in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Concerning the Examine
Boathouse has been conducting this analysis since 2021. The fifth version (2026) of the examine relies on a survey of 150 CEOs at U.S. firms. Survey respondents led firms having annual income that ranged from $250 million to greater than $1 billion.
Sixty-one % (61%) of the respondents have been with firms having greater than 1,000 staff. Respondents have been affiliated with firms working in 16 business verticals, with healthcare being the biggest cohort (19% of all respondents).
The survey was carried out January 6 – 26, 2026.
The first objective of this analysis was to seize the views of CEOs relating to their CMO and their firm’s advertising group. The 2026 survey additionally included questions on how CEOs form technique and about their funding in, adoption of, and aims for synthetic intelligence.
The Boathouse examine has two apparent limitations. First, the examine relies on a survey with a comparatively small variety of respondents. And second, Boathouse doesn’t declare that its survey panel is a consultant pattern of all CEOs. Due to this fact, the quantitative survey findings can’t be “projected” to all CEOs.
The place CMOs are Performing Properly
Many of the CEOs surveyed by Boathouse have been constructive on a number of facets of their CMO’s efficiency. For instance:
- 79% of the survey respondents stated their CMO reveals a robust dedication to the CEO and Board of Administrators. That was up barely from 76% within the 2025 survey.
- 72% stated their CMO understands their firm’s financials, up considerably from 61% within the 2025 survey.
- 85% stated their CMO builds belief inside their firm, down solely barely from 87% within the 2025 survey.
As well as, 59% of the surveyed CEOs stated their CMO understands their firm’s enterprise objectives, and 70% stated the metrics utilized by advertising are totally (12%) or principally (58%) aligned with their firm’s main enterprise metrics.
Blended Opinions on Technique
The CEOs taking part within the Boathouse survey gave blended critiques to their CMO with regards to technique.
First, the excellent news. Sixty-eight % (68%) of the survey respondents stated their CMO leads (8%) or actively contributes to (60%) the formulation of their firm’s technique. This discovering means that many CMOs have efficiently received a seat on the technique desk.
Nevertheless, slightly below 20% of the surveyed CEOs gave their CMO a grade of “A” on technique. That was down from almost 35% within the 2025 version of the survey.
The survey report would not present an evidence for the declining share of “A” grades, however it could be on account of rising expectations. As extra CEOs embody their CMO within the technique improvement course of, some can have excessive expectations for the standard of the CMO’s contribution.
The Good and Not-So-Good Information on Driving Progress
The CEOs surveyed by Boathouse additionally gave blended critiques to their CMO (and their advertising group) on driving income progress.
The survey findings clearly present that CEOs view progress as a important enterprise problem. Thirty-two % (32%) of the survey respondents recognized “progress efficiency” as the realm of their enterprise the place they really feel most personally uncovered or susceptible as CEO. The subsequent highest share (21%) was for “aggressive threats.”
CEOs additionally see progress as the first mandate of their advertising group, with 65% of the survey respondents citing “drive gross sales progress and/or develop market shares” as advertising’s prime precedence.
The excellent news is that 59% of the surveyed CEOs indicated they’re “assured” in advertising’s capacity to make a “significant” contribution to progress.
The not-so-good information is that solely 13% of the survey respondents stated they’re “very assured” that their advertising group can display the incremental carry supplied by advertising investments.
Whereas a basic feeling of confidence is nice, it will not be enough to steer CEOs to prioritize advertising spending when tough capital allocation selections have to be made. So, CMOs and different advertising leaders should hold working to offer credible proof of the monetary impacts of their advertising actions and applications.
