Boathouse

From a two-man operation bootstrapped in a garage, to an ever-growing creative, relationship-driven team across the world, Boathouse continues to relentlessly focus on improving marketing performance. To our clients who drive us to do better work every day, to the communities who support us, and to our staff who go above and beyond every day to deliver the highest-quality work: Thank you for 25 years of Boathouse.

Boston agency Boathouse’s?fourth installment?of its CEO study took more time to understand the CEO’s position as it relates to leadership as well as marketing. One troubling insight in this era of drastic transformation brought on by the after-effects of the pandemic as well as the onslaught of AI: 87% of CEOs say they have yet to fully realize their transformation strategy — in fact, averaged out they’re only about halfway there. And while growth and profitability dominate their priorities, there’s a void created by a disconnect between financial performance initiatives and organizational health issues. CEOs tend to blame external forces — specifically economic conditions, competitive pressures, and financial market dynamics — as the primary obstacles to strategic execution. In this piece by Michael Burgi, we speak to John Connors, and Sharon Cantor Ceurvorst of Gartner.

Boston agency Boathouse’s?fourth installment?of its CEO study took more time to understand the CEO’s position as it relates to leadership as well as marketing. One troubling insight in this era of drastic transformation brought on by the after-effects of the pandemic as well as the onslaught of AI: 87% of CEOs say they have yet to fully realize their transformation strategy — in fact, averaged out they’re only about halfway there. And while growth and profitability dominate their priorities, there’s a void created by a disconnect between financial performance initiatives and organizational health issues. CEOs tend to blame external forces — specifically economic conditions, competitive pressures, and financial market dynamics — as the primary obstacles to strategic execution. ?? Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/gxqhdKGp In this piece by Michael Burgi, we speak to John Connors, and Sharon Cantor Ceurvorst of Gartner.

Positively, 76% of CEOs recognize CMO commitment to the CEO/Board over themselves—a significant shift from the 44% four years ago. Do positive trends for CMOs continue throughout their job functions, or are there areas of concern in the eyes of CEOs? Download Boathouse’s Annual CEO Study on Marketing and the CMO here to find out: https://lnkd.in/gfRxMMGh

I always enjoy speaking with Boathouse CEO John Connors, who's just a straightforward, no BS exec. And the four years of work his agency has done to better understand the relationship between CMOs and their bosses is vital to helping both sides work better together. My story in Digiday on what this year's study found -- and how some of it is validated by Gartner doing similar work. https://lnkd.in/eSh3UAWx

Our survey data suggests that CEOs are keeping CMOs at arms length when it comes to running the business. "The good news: Chief executive officers trust their chief marketing officers more than they did in the past. The bad: This change in relationship hasn’t necessarily resulted in more credibility for marketing as a function." So, what are the factors contributing to this disconnect? Read more of Deputy Editor Paul Hiebert's takeaways from our fourth annual CEO Study on Marketing and the CMO in his feature on ADWEEK.

"Increasingly, we are seeing the CMO is in no man’s land. CMOs are getting smarter about how to build a better relationship with CEOs but marketing overall is losing credibility." John Connors, Co-Founder and CEO at Boathouse, spoke with Ad Age about findings from our fourth annual CEO Study on Marketing and the CMO. Read more analysis from Adrianne Pasquarelli Special Projects Editor, Senior Reporter, on Ad Age.

Forbes contributor Roger Dooley sees a dangerous gap—CMOs are finally getting recognition from their CEOs, but they’re not being relied on. "Perhaps most concerning for the marketing profession is that despite four years of effort to elevate the role, half of CEOs still view their CMOs as peripheral to the company’s growth strategy ... This positioning gap comes at a time when CEOs report being relentlessly focused on growth and profitability. Clearly, it’s important for marketing leaders to demonstrate their value in these areas." Read Roger's full analysis of Boathouse's fourth annual CEO Study on Marketing and the CMO: https://lnkd.in/gqKDnxZ4

While CMOs continue a four-year upward trend of being rated as “Best in class”, only 24% of CEOs give their CMO an “A” grade in their overall performance. That’s one of many findings you’ll see in Boathouse’s just published Annual CEO Study on Marketing and the CMO. In our fourth installment, we surveyed 150 CEOs from top U.S. companies across 17 industries to uncover insights on their roles, perceptions of CMOs and marketing departments, AI, and DEI efforts. Be one of the first to see what CEOs actually want from their CMOs in 2025: https://lnkd.in/gAG2fUqh

Half of CEOs say their strategy isn’t making it from vision to execution. One reason? A disconnect in how success is measured. Bob Parks, Principal at Boathouse, sees this firsthand—CEOs and CMOs often use different metrics to define progress, making alignment difficult. If leadership isn’t speaking the same language, how can strategy translate into action? Our Fourth Annual CEO Study on Marketing and the CMO explores, among other topics, whether that gap is closing. Sign up here to be notified when we release the study: https://lnkd.in/eBH8s6P2