In the life sciences, high stakes and rigorous validation come with the job. Increasingly, marketing is being held to that same standard. According to the 2026 Boathouse CEO Study, while trust between chief executive officers (CEOs) and chief marketing officers (CMOs) remains high, the perceived value of the marketing function is in free fall.
For the first time in years, the perception of marketing has flipped—moving from 65% of CEOs seeing it as a profit center last year to 60% viewing it as a cost center today. The reason, according to the Boathouse study, is a growing “confidence gap.” CEOs feel great about their own leadership and high-level strategy, but they’re frustrated by internal execution. They don’t necessarily need more help “setting direction”; they need people who can build the systems to actually deliver on it.
At HDMZ, we see this disconnect as the “Execution Trap,” in which marketing is treated like a tactical vending machine rather than a strategic engine. Our Future State Framework was built specifically to pull brands out of that trap. It starts by defining the destination first, then works backwards to map how to get there through five integrated phases: Define, Discover, Analyze, Diagnose, and Deploy. Together, these phases are designed to ensure every action is tied to a clearly defined future state of business and market performance. (See below for more details.)
DEFINE (set direction)
The Define phase establishes the strategic foundation of the engagement by clarifying the business outcome the client is ultimately trying to achieve. It translates high-level commercial objectives into measurable success criteria, ensuring clarity on what the “Future State” must deliver in financial and market terms.
DISCOVER (map reality)
The Discover phase maps the current market and organizational reality. It evaluates external communications, competitive positioning and internal capability structures to understand how the organization is currently operating in-market. This phase establishes the baseline from which performance gaps can be assessed.
ANALYZE (interpret insights)
The Analyze phase transforms research and discovery findings into strategic insight. It evaluates patterns across market dynamics, competitive positioning, audience behavior and organizational performance to identify the opportunities, risks and strategic priorities that will shape the path toward the defined Future State.
DIAGNOSE (identify gaps)
The Diagnose phase identifies where disconnects exist between strategy, execution and market perception. It isolates the structural and operational barriers preventing current performance from reaching the defined Future State, including breakdowns across messaging, go-to-market execution, and cross-functional coordination.
DEPLOY (activate execution)
The Deploy phase translates strategy into coordinated execution. It activates the programs, campaigns, systems, and cross-functional workflows required to move the organization from its Current State toward its defined Future State, ensuring execution remains tied to measurable business outcomes.
Start with the "Future State" (Not the Deliverables)
The mandate from CEOs is clear: Approximately 65% say marketing’s top priority is driving sales growth and market share. Furthermore, the importance of transforming the company narrative has doubled year-over-year, jumping from 23% to 47%. Yet, despite this heavy strategic mandate, 57% of CEOs still view their CMOs primarily as “execution leaders” (the people who make things) rather than “strategic advisors” (the people who grow the business). Only 8% of CEOs see their CMOs as actually leading the company’s strategy.
By anchoring marketing strategy to measurable outcomes from the outset, marketing shifts from a "cost of doing business" to a documented investment in growth.
HDMZ’s Future State Framework flips the script by beginning with the Define phase—identifying the business outcome the client is ultimately trying to achieve before discussing tactics, channels, or creative assets. We start with the questions that keep CEOs up at night, focusing on the specific financial and operational metrics that will define success and signal that the desired “Future State” has been achieved. By anchoring marketing strategy to measurable outcomes from the outset, marketing shifts from a “cost of doing business” to a documented investment in growth.
Moving Beyond "Average"
Despite growing pressure on CMOs to demonstrate business value, most marketing organizations are still struggling to translate strategy into measurable performance. That disconnect is increasingly reflected in how CEOs evaluate marketing leadership. Only 15% of CMOs receive an “A” rating, while 53% are now considered “average,” a sharp decline from prior years. Even more telling, 40% of CEOs rate their CMO “C” or lower in their ability to drive strategy and growth. Marketing teams are winning the relationship — 79% of CMOs are strongly connected to the CEO — but they are losing the confidence to lead.
To rebuild CEO confidence, CMOs must demonstrate measurable business results. The Analysis phase of our framework focuses on the data that matters most to the CEO and chief financial officer: pipeline value, marketing-qualified-to-sales-qualified lead ratios, market share, and share of voice. Through live dashboards and structured reporting, we help marketing leaders connect activity directly to business performance — something only 13% of CEOs are currently very confident their teams can do.
Yet for many organizations, the challenge extends beyond measurement alone. Operational and execution breakdowns often prevent marketing strategy from translating into sustained business performance.
Diagnose Operational Gaps in Execution
The gaps in CMO performance point to deeper operational failures within marketing organizations. CEOs cite “growth performance” as their greatest area of concern (32%). A closer look reveals that this concern is driven by significant internal barriers to growth, including talent shortages (39%), go-to-market (GTM) execution gaps (37%), and a lack of cross-functional coordination (35%).
These barriers limit marketing’s ability to perform consistently and scale effectively. Even strong marketing strategies struggle when disconnected from broader business operations.
The HDMZ Discover and Diagnose phases of our Future State Framework identify gaps in marketing execution by analyzing how external messaging and positioning reveal internal barriers to growth. We move beyond basic data collection to perform a diagnostic deep-dive, pinpointing where talent constraints, go-to-market execution gaps, and cross-functional misalignment are impacting how the organization operates in practice.
By auditing primary research, competitive assessments, and prior campaign results, we define the gap between a client’s current performance and its target “Future State.” This allows us to quantify the distance required to reach its goals and clarify why current performance falls short of its target.
Even strong marketing strategies struggle when disconnected from broader business operations.
The New Accountability: AI and ROI
Beyond operational execution, the Boathouse study highlights another growing pressure point for CMOs: accountability for artificial intelligence (AI) return on investment (ROI). CMOs are now held four times more accountable for AI ROI than any other C-suite executive, with 55% of CEOs identifying the CMO as the primary leader responsible for delivering returns from AI in marketing. Yet, a significant readiness gap remains. Nearly half of CEOs (46%) rate their CMO’s AI capability as a “C” or lower, and only 6% assign an “A” for AI savviness.
At its core, this is not just an AI performance gap. It reflects a broader shift in how CEOs now expect technology to function within marketing organizations, with tools, data, and workflows fully integrated into execution rather than layered on top of it.
Despite the explosion of “AI consulting” services across the market, CEOs are not looking for experimentation or additional tooling. They want workflow integration and data readiness, along with a clear understanding of how technology drives efficiency, accelerates growth, and increases the return on every marketing dollar invested. This shift requires moving technology from a standalone capability to an embedded operating layer within marketing execution.
In the Deploy phase of our Future State Framework, technology enables marketing strategy to be executed consistently across teams, tools, and processes. Rather than positioning AI as an isolated application, we embed it directly into the systems that drive marketing performance. In this context, AI becomes part of a broader technology layer that supports delivery and closes operational gaps.
Whether optimizing a complex SEO strategy, scaling creative production for media assets, or strengthening media relations efforts, HDMZ uses modern tools to improve the speed, accuracy, and consistency of marketing output. This ensures execution is directly tied to measurable business objectives.
By integrating these capabilities across marketing and communications activities, we help CMOs meet CEOs’ expectations for performance without sacrificing brand integrity. In this framework, technology is not replacing the human element of communications. It reinforces it by improving the quality, speed, and reliability of marketing delivery that CEOs now expect from their organizations.
Reclaiming the Strategic Advisor Role
The 2026 Boathouse CEO Study serves as a stark reminder that trust and value are not the same thing. While personal relationships between CEOs and CMOs are strong, the perceived business impact of marketing is under intense scrutiny. When marketing is viewed primarily through the lens of execution, it is inevitably relegated to a cost center.
Reclaiming a seat at the strategy table requires moving beyond reporting on tactical outputs — the “what we made” — and toward proving solutions to the growth mandates of the C-suite. It means replacing tactical reporting with a diagnostic mindset that accounts for the realities of GTM execution, siloed data, and rising performance accountability.
The 2026 Boathouse CEO Study serves as a stark reminder that trust and value are not the same thing.
The Future State is more than a destination for a brand; it is a standard for professional validation. To move from “average” to “best-in-class,” CMOs must shift from reporting on tactical outputs to demonstrating measurable business impact through integrated strategy and execution systems.
