• Ad Age, Wednesday, June 21, 2006 3:15 PM

The chances of a chief marketing officer attaining long-term job security are about as good as those of the U.S. soccer team winning the World Cup--it's possible, but highly unlikely. At least that seems to be the message from a new study by a leading executive recruiter which showed that the alarmingly brief average tenure of a CMO has shrunk to only 23.2 months. What's even worse is that the figure is shrinking: it's down from 23.5 months last year and 23.6 months in 2004. It's hard to say exactly why the position is so tenuous, but there is no shortage of speculation. Marketing executives believe that while the pressure to perform is exacerbated by the short-term demands of Wall Street, they are also hindered by lack of access to CEOs. Also, the small pool of the best and the brightest who are sagely navigating the changing media environment are in demand and prime for poaching. "The shorter tenure is in part a reflection of the change from failing traditional-marketing approaches to less-defined and more dynamic approaches," said Jeff Bell, who jumped from Chrysler Group to become corporate VP-global marketing of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business this month. "Clearly the skill set of CMOs is changing from 'TV, TV and more TV' to interactive media. ... As the world of marketing completes this transition, the tenure will stabilize." Whatever the reason, the short leash is not just worrisome for the job holder, but also for brands suffering a revolving door of top marketers .

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