CMOs don't last

If you report to the chief marketing officer and you don't like him/her, don't sweat it -- the bum will be gone soon. If you are the CMO, keep your resume polished.

According to a recent study, the life-span of the CMO is short and getting shorter.

The tenure for chief marketing officers at the 100 top consumer branded companies has continued to decline, according to a new study. Over the past three years CMOs at these companies have seen their time on the job drop from 23.6 months to 23.2 months, said Greg Welch, who heads the marketing officer practice for the executive search firm Spencer Stuart, Chicago.

This is the second such study undertaken by the firm.

“The surprising thing is that this trend is continuing,” said Welch. “When we did our first survey three years ago we really didn’t expect this to happen.”

By comparison, CEOs last 44 months, CFOs 39, and CIOs 36.