FMI

CMO Digest

The Ever-Evolving Role of the CMO: McKinsey On What Really Drives Growth

(This article first appeared on a post by Jacob Howard on LinkedIn here)

In this latest FMI Digest, we took a look at two recent McKinsey pieces* that paint a consistent and compelling picture of the modern CMO: more essential than ever, yet often pushed to the margins of strategic decision‑making. Together, they outline why reconnecting the CMO with the rest of the C‑suite - particularly the CEO and CFO - is becoming a non‑negotiable ingredient for customer‑centric growth.

Growth is the mandate - but misalignment is the barrier

Across these articles, McKinsey highlights the widening disconnect between CMOs and their C‑suite peers. Despite operating in a climate of volatility and rapid technological change, many CMOs are excluded from the strategic conversations that shape growth - leading to a harmful gap between strong marketing inputs and weak commercial outcomes.

This gap came through repeatedly in our recent Financial Services Marketing Leaders’ Summits. Panelists have described how brand’s contribution is often discounted until revenue shows up, and how CMOs still face “prove‑it” conversations with CFOs even when early indicators (trust scores, earlier RFP inclusion) are moving in the right direction.

When everyone owns growth, no one owns it

McKinsey finds accountability for the customer has fragmented across proliferating roles (marketing, digital, growth, revenue, product). Their analysis of Fortune 500 executive teams shows companies with one customer‑ or growth‑oriented leader on the top team see up to 2.3× more growth than those with multiple overlapping roles.

Through FMI’s own conversations, marketing leaders have spoken candidly about blurred lines between sales, marketing, and enablement - especially in long, multi‑stakeholder B2B cycles - arguing that without clear swim lanes and ownership, growth efforts stall.

The CMO-CEO-CFO axis: the new growth engine

Both McKinsey pieces argue that sustainable, customer‑centric growth hinges on a tight partnership among the CMO, CEO, and CFO - anchored on shared goals, shared data, and shared accountability.

This resonates from what we’ve heard from multiple Summit speakers who have described the importance of making finance co‑authors of the marketing narrative (e.g., aligning on how events drive booked revenue and pipeline, and agreeing up front what “good” looks like). The clear message: involve Finance at the start, not just the quarterly scorecard.

Unified metrics: the missing link between brand and P&L

A major source of friction is measurement. McKinsey calls for tighter linkage between marketing activity and business outcomes to restore confidence in growth investment.

At our recent NY Summit in December 2025, FS marketers shared practical scoreboards that resonate across the C‑suite - short‑cycle indicators (trust or consideration lift, earlier RFP inclusion, internal alignment), and long‑cycle outcomes (revenue, share of wallet, retention, multi‑product adoption). Several teams now capture event‑to‑revenue connections (direct wins and pipeline from conferences) and track sales‑cycle shortening when brand clarity is strong.

The modern CMO looks more like a Chief Growth Officer

McKinsey’s throughline: today’s CMO must be fully commercial - fluent in P&L, customer economics, product, pricing, and distribution - with marketing and communications as just one part of a much broader growth mandate.

This brings us back to the perennial question of what Marketing with a capital M is really here to do. At recent Summits, our community has offered a set of practical, experience‑tested principles:

  • Shift from product push to value partnership. One global payments leader described moving away from “menu marketing” and toward helping clients solve real business problems - such as cash‑flow optimisation - through integrated journeys rather than isolated product messages.

  • Treat brand as an operating system. Speakers stressed that brand should function as the connective tissue across the organisation: shaping how sales shows up, reducing perceived risk in complex B2B decisions, and unifying fragmented product stories - especially in categories where offerings increasingly look the same.

  • Work to commercial time horizons. Teams highlighted the importance of actively managing 12–18 month B2B sales cycles, pairing short‑term “demand signals” (e.g., trust, consideration, RFP inclusion) with long‑term metrics like revenue, retention, and share of wallet.

Execution requires cross‑functional agility

McKinsey stresses that growth is as much an operating model issue as a strategy issue. High performers create cross‑functional teams across marketing, sales, finance, and operations to sense and respond quickly.

Further practical plays to consider: tightening sales-marketing hand‑offs (and being explicit about who owns pitch materials), instituting “test & learn” roadmaps for ABM and personalisation, and starting small with one product line before scaling what works.

AI, GEO, and the new distribution realities

While McKinsey focuses on the leadership alignment imperative, recent FMI Summit sessions surfaced the executional frontier: generative engine optimisation (GEO), synthetic audiences to pre‑test messaging, and pragmatic AI to scale asset creation (e.g., PM avatars, audio versions of research) within FS compliance boundaries. The common thread: use AI to speed learning and consistency, not to outsource judgment.

What this means for FS CMOs

Financial services marketing leaders will see a familiar story here:

  • Reduce fragmentation. Clarify who owns the customer and growth across the executive team; realign roles to eliminate duplications.
    FMI’s take: Define the sales/marketing/enablement hand‑offs, or expect friction to resurface in every planning cycle.

  • Lock the CMO-CEO-CFO axis. Align on a single growth narrative and a shared scoreboard that moves seamlessly from brand to bookings to P&L.
    FMI’s take: Track near‑term signals (trust, RFP inclusion) and long‑cycle outcomes (share of wallet, retention) so finance sees the through‑line.

  • CMOs need to lead with a commercial focus. Shape product, pricing, and distribution, not just campaigns; build brand as a risk‑reducing system that compresses sales cycles and unites product stories.
    FMI’s take: Teams emphasised replacing “menu marketing” with outcome‑based journeys and integrated assets grounded in real client pain points (e.g., cash‑flow optimisation).

  • Modernise the operating model. Institutionalise cross‑functional rhythms (pre‑event planning, in‑event capture, post‑event conversion) and adopt a test‑and‑scale mindset for ABM and personalisation.
    FMI’s take: Practitioners recommended starting with one product line, proving value, then scaling - especially in regulated, long‑cycle B2B environments.

  • Build for GEO and AI. Treat your site as both a machine‑ and human‑readable hub; structure content in Q\&A modules; and pilot synthetic audiences to test creative before it ships - while maintaining compliance and authenticity.
    FMI’s take: Speakers highlighted the growing importance of understanding generative search behaviour and using AI tools strategically to refine messaging, not replace judgment.

The Bottom Line

McKinsey is clear that CMOs can - and must - return to the centre of the growth agenda. The Summit conversations underline how: resolve ownership, share the scoreboard with Finance, operate cross‑functionally, and use AI to compress learning loops. Do that, and marketing stops being a line item - and becomes the operating system for growth.

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