Female talent prevails in Forbes CMO list

Forbes has published its 2024 Entrepreneurial CMO list featuring fifty top marketing leaders across financial services, transport, entertainment, beauty, and food and drink.

The list showcases a group of top-level marketers who have been nominated by their peers, colleagues, and agency leaders.

Of those recognised, 62% of leaders are women – an increase of 8% from 54% just last year – and 32% of marketers featured are people of colour.

Despite more than two thirds of marketers being women, according to data by Statista, female marketers are often restricted from accessing C-suite positions.

Occupying only 20% of board seats globally, according to Deloitte, women continue to be excluded from the highest levels of corporate leadership.

The increase of diverse faces in Forbes’ list may indicate a drive towards DEI across all sectors.

Amongst the financial marketers recognised is Fiona Carter, chief marketing officer at Goldman Sachs. In an interview with Forbes, Carter said a successful entrepreneurial marketer requires the skills to “build bridges with the firm’s current operating systems and an understanding and tolerance for change from an often-(marketing) skeptical audience.”

As a result, business partners will “begin to acknowledge marketing can be a revenue-generator, scaling their business models, and helping find new audiences and sources of business,” she said.