Rupert Bedell, chief executive officer (CEO) of Fasthosts, did not expect to become a corporate chief. He assumed his career would lead to the post of chief marketing officer (CMO). And he was right, after several financial services jobs, he became CMO of payments company Paysend. But when a tech company unexpectedly approached him to replace its outgoing CEO, he took the challenge.
Fasthosts, a UK-based web hosting provider, wanted a leader with a marketing background who understood small and mid-sized businesses. In September 2024, Bedell started the transition to an industry he wasn’t as familiar with but he says the skills learned over the years in marketing helped.
“CMOs are some of the best-equipped people to take on a CEO role, and I’m really surprised that that doesn’t happen more often,” says Bedell. They know the marketplace, pricing dynamics, customer acquisition, communications, he says. And because they are responsible for revenue acquisition and marketing is often the biggest cost to the business, they understand the balance sheet, too.
“They’re good communicators, they’re good on their feet, they’re good at inspiring people around them,” Bedell says. “These are critical things for a successful CEO, in my opinion.”
It is a move that more marketers are making today, and even more should consider it, say those who have done it. As marketing has become more complex and expands its scope, today’s marketers are armed with the skills to aim for the top spot. Many are encouraging young practitioners to think of themselves as CEO candidates and prepare.
“It’s really important that we have these conversations because I think that as marketers, we’re often told that that’s not the career path,” says Melissa Grady Dias, CEO of Measured Wellness.
Like Bedell, she had expected to spend her career in marketing until her advisory work with the healthcare company led to a job offer. The former CMO of Cadillac likes to remind young marketers that is an option.
“We’re starting to see that if you need a business to grow, the person who is really going to be able to grow it is the one who understands customers and how to attract customers into the brand,” says Grady Dias. And she notes that, as more private equity investors become involved in growing companies, this focus keeps growing.
“It’s about having the conversation, marketing it as marketers: That we are really good at growing businesses,” she says. “The recognition will start to come as you start to see the results.”
“CMO+”
The marketing department has not traditionally been considered a steppingstone to the C-suite. The CMO-to-CEO move remains rare – a survey by Spencer Stuart found 9% of CMOs leaving their jobs between 2021 and 2025 moved up to CEO and 13% became division CEO, president or COO.
But marketers need to see that path as a career option, as marketing has access to better metrics and data science that can show its contribution to the companies’ revenue growth and financial health. Like Bedell’s company, many organizations recognize marketers can drive the all-important revenue growth they need to show shareholders.
“I think it’s something that we’re seeing because marketers are uniquely positioned to be able to hold more senior executive roles as stewards of the brand,” says Soyoung Kang, president of eos Products. Before taking on the position in Fall 2025, Kang had been the CMO of the personal care company since 2018 and oversaw its expansion into new areas of skincare.
“It’s an exciting time for marketers who are looking to take on new challenges, and it’s a trend that I believe is going to continue,” said Kang. She noted Kory Marchisotto at e.l.f. Beauty had a similar trajectory, becoming president of the makeup company in April, after serving as CMO for six years.
The move is becoming more common in consumer-focused industries. Sean Tresvant, CEO of Taco Bell, moved on to that role from his former post as chief global brand officer and a number of marketing roles at parent Yum Brands. One of his predecessors, Brian Niccol, now CEO of Starbucks, was CMO of Taco Bell before moving on to the top spot. Starbucks International’s current CEO, Brady Brewer, was previously Global CMO. In August, Taylor Montomery, global chief brand officer at Taco Bell, was appointed president of QSR Jack In the Box, a new position charged with driving sales growth and franchisee profitability.
Marketers have increasingly become what consultants Russell Reynolds tagged the “CMO+” with responsibilities over strategy and profit & loss statements that create “a pipeline to the CEO seat.”
Simone Grapini-Goodman, CEO of Beyond Type 1, makes the argument that a modern CMO is a “chief multipurpose officer” whose job spans brand, communications, revenue, digital, partnerships, data and customer and community experience. Grapini-Goodman herself was appointed earlier this year to lead the community for people living with diabetes co-founded by singer Nick Jonas. (She had previously been the chief marketing and digital officer of the American Diabetes Association.)
Kang noted that while she was not a career marketer, eos’s founder and CEO Jonathan Teller wanted “an all-around business leader who happened to be able to flex into the marketing function” and spending time as CMO rounded out the skills for the next move.
“I don’t think that it’s possible to be an executive at any company who isn’t someone who innately understands the power of brand building,” she says.
Think holistically
Well-prepared marketers will still negotiate an adjustment period, even those like Kang, who are promoted from within and have experience in other operational areas. Some disciplines will be challenging, such as legal and human resources, which traditionally are removed from the marketers’ remit.
While marketers are more often in charge of their budgets and financial reporting within their corporations, they need to beef up their knowledge of the whole picture, say insiders. “It’s understanding how to read the PL, how the different levers function within the P&L and how the business actually drives,” says Kang.
When making the move, insiders recommend spending the early days listening to everyone, from front-line employees to director reports. It’s especially useful when changing companies or industries.
Bedell and Grapini-Goodman both went on listening tours around their organizations. Bedell had the benefit of having the outgoing CEO by his side, but he still started with one-to-one meetings with functional heads and spent time on the front line, listening into customer calls. This helped him learn how the industry worked, he says. Additionally, looking at employee surveys spotted low morale, which he as a marketer felt he could address.
Grapini-Goodman launched an internal survey on her first week on the job and held one-on-one meetings to have “honest conversations” with the teams, she says.
“I wanted to start by understanding, not assuming I have the answers,” says Grapini-Goodman. “Marketing has taught me the discipline to ask: What are we here to do? What is our why? What is our value proposition? And most importantly: is that reflected in our messaging and actions?”
Anxiety and non-negotiables
To prepare for this career path, marketers need to first see it as a possibility, then prepare accordingly, say insiders.
“Broaden your exposure,” recommends Grapini-Goodman. “If you don’t already have this in your remit, find ways to own P&Ls, get closer to talent, operations, enterprise strategy and financial decisions.”
Insiders recommend making connections with peers in other areas, such as legal and finance to learn more about those aspects of the business. Grady Dias recommends practicing walking a mile in the shoes of the head of Human Resources or General Counsel to get a feel for how to handle those responsibilities.
“The first piece of advice I would give is: Whichever of those functions, whichever of those business partners you feel the most uncomfortable with, dive into that area first,” she says. “Whatever area is giving you the most anxiety as you’re looking at it, that’s the area that you should probably try to go learn first.”
Understanding financial and profit-and-loss statements is a top priority. “The one non-negotiable is financial literacy,” says Kang.
Most insiders suggest taking business and accounting courses and degrees to expand financial knowledge, or online sources such as Coursera to beef up those credentials. Grady noted that while she was at Cadillac, she wanted to develop more financial knowledge, so she took courses and spent time in financial meetings to learn more.
“It’s a skill to be learned, there’s nothing that’s scary about it,” she says. “It’s important for us as marketers to develop those skills, to develop those bridges, but to also know that it’s just a skill to be learned. And of course, CEO should be the career path for us.”
