A chief marketing officer’s exit is almost guaranteed to have a big impact on the rest of the marketing team and wider business. However, the aftermath extends beyond internal disruption, with new research highlighting the short- and long-term damage to brand success.
Losing just one senior marketing leader can reduce a business’s brand buzz – a measure of short-term brand perception – by approximately 6.1%, according to academics from Northwestern, Liverpool and Toronto universities.
Long-term brand equity is also impacted by a 2.4% decline when a senior leader departs.
The study, ‘Marketing Employee Turnover and Brand Performance’ draws on YouGov BrandIndex data and employment records of 477 businesses between 2012 and 2020.
Quarter of brands cutting senior marketing leaders
Turnover in mid-level marketing roles also had a negative impact on brand metrics. The departure of one mid-level manager correlates roughly with a 1.6% decline in brand buzz, and a 0.59% drop in brand equity.
Junior employee turnover has a “small, but significant” impact on brand buzz, but zero impact on long-term brand performance, the study finds.
Part of the issue when marketers depart and new leaders come in is that they want to make their mark, which often results in existing brand platforms and campaigns being dropped.
“To keep customers satisfied and loyal, firms need to put consistent effort into their brand management activities, which typically is the responsibility of marketing employees,” the report says. “In line with this, turnover of senior marketing executives, mid-level marketing managers, and even junior marketing employees could be detrimental to such efforts as departing employees take their branding skills, experience, and customer relationships with them… reducing the cohesiveness of marketing strategy and consistency of marketing tactics… and potentially damaging brand buzz and brand equity.”
Digital marketing departures have the biggest impact
Marketing Week’s 2025 Career & Salary Survey data finds nearly a quarter of brands (23.8%) are cutting senior marketing leader roles and not replacing them.
When asked why, well over half (58.4%) say the decision was taken to save on wages, while a quarter (23.7%) claim new hires have been made, but not like-for-like replacements. Almost a fifth (19.6%) admit the decision not to replace a marketing leader was down to a lack of succession planning.
This, tallied with the negative impact the departure of a senior leader has on key brand metrics, suggests some brands are heading into trouble.
The last decade of digital transformation at brands has caused many marketing jobs to diverge beyond traditional marketing roles. Taking this into account, the research splits out digital-leaning job roles, such as those which include terms like digital, influencer, platform, mobile, web and social media in their titles.
Turnover within these roles has a greater impact on brand performance compared with exits by marketers in non-digital roles.
The departure of one senior digital marketing leader correlates with a 14.9% decrease in brand buzz and an 8.9% decrease in brand equity.
In contrast, the impact of a senior non-digital leader departing resulted in a 4% drop in brand buzz and 0.92% decrease in brand equity.
“These findings highlight the importance of continuity in marketing leadership and the challenges firms face in maintaining brand equity amid workforce fluctuations,” the report says.
It also encourages brands to “prioritise talent retention and skill development” in digital functions.
“In sum, marketing drives brands, but people drive marketing. Losing marketing talent, especially digital marketing talent, hurts brand performance, and firms pay a lasting price. Our findings reveal the painful causal effects of turnover, from senior executives down to mid-level managers and even junior employees, highlighting the importance of continuously investing in marketing teams,” it concludes.
Read more from Marketing Week’s 2025 Career & Salary Survey here.
