Zero CMOs Sit on Any FTSE 100 Board, New Study Finds
No FTSE 100 company now has a chief marketing officer on its main board, down from 14% in 2007 — but marketing hasn't lost power, it has migrated into growth and customer roles below board level, according to The Marketing Directors.
The headline stat
Not a single FTSE 100 company has a CMO or marketing director sitting on its main board in 2026, according to research by The Marketing Directors, compared with 14% carrying a board-level marketing role in a 2007 Cranfield School of Management benchmark. On the face of it, that reads like marketing's demotion from the top table.
But the same study argues the story is one of migration, not disappearance — and the numbers underneath the headline are far more encouraging than the headline itself.
Marketing didn't leave — it moved
The research found 70% of FTSE 100 companies have 'meaningful' marketing, customer and brand expertise on their boards, 10% of CEOs have a marketing or customer-leadership background, and 45% carry marketing expertise beyond the chief executive. Another 30% have senior marketing leaders operating just below the main board.
Among the 16 consumer-facing brands in the index, every one has a senior marketing leader and 15 have board-level marketing expertise. The CMO title is fading, but it has been absorbed into roles like chief growth officer and chief customer officer that sit on executive committees.
What it means for marketers' careers
Our read at Marketing Minute: the label is dying while the remit is broadening. Marketing is being folded into growth and customer functions that own more of the profit-and-loss than a classic CMO ever did.
For ambitious marketers, the path to the top now runs through commercial fluency: talk growth, margin and customer lifetime value, not just brand awareness. The professionals who reframe marketing as a driver of revenue — not a cost centre — are the ones still getting into the boardroom, whatever their title says.
Quick FAQ
How many FTSE 100 companies have a CMO on the board?
None in 2026, down from 14% with a board-level marketing role in a 2007 Cranfield benchmark, according to The Marketing Directors.
Does that mean marketing has lost influence?
Not exactly — 70% of boards have meaningful marketing or customer expertise, but it now sits in growth and customer roles rather than a CMO seat.
What should marketers do about it?
Build commercial fluency — growth, margin and customer value — so marketing is seen as a revenue driver rather than a cost centre.
The vanishing CMO is not the tragedy it looks like. Marketing has been promoted into growth and customer roles that carry far more P&L than the old brand seat ever did. The lesson for marketers is blunt: learn to speak the language of revenue, or watch someone who can take the chair you wanted. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
The CMO title is fading, but marketing's remit is widening — the winners are the ones who speak growth, not just brand.
Would your board see marketing as a driver of revenue — or still file it under cost?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Marketing Week, The Marketing Directors, Cranfield School of Management.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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