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# Digital Takes Toll of CMOs Concludes New Study
- URL: https://capitolcommunicator.com/digital-takes-toll-of-cmos-states-ad-age/
- Published: 2016-09-05T17:54:01.000Z
- Updated: 2016-09-09T16:47:56.000Z
- Author: Capitol Communicator
- Tags: Advertising, Marketing, Communications, Insights, #Import 2026-10-08 18:47

**A study published by Russell Reynolds Associates** shows that CMO turnover is higher than ever. According to [Ad Age](http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/cmos-dropping-flies/305691/?ref=capitolcommunicator.com), “in some industries, the trend is eye-popping — particularly in retail, where 48% of the top 30 retailers in the U.S. have had a change in marketing leadership in the last 12 months. Consumer tech, media, CPG and hospitality industries also had high levels of churn in the CMO hot seat.

“What’s more, 62% of companies replace their CMOs with someone from outside the company, a clear indicator that many CEOs don’t believe anyone else who works at their companies has the answers either.

“What the hell is going on?

“Well, in interviews with a dozen CMOs and CEOs, [Russell Reynolds concluded](http://www.russellreynolds.com/insights/thought-leadership/from-cmo-to-c-uh-oh?ref=capitolcommunicator.com) that there were eight distinct factors — but if I were pressed to summarize them, it would be “Digital, digital, digital, digital, digital, digital, digital, and CEOs making scapegoats out of CMOs to buy more time to deal with digital.”