More Women Are Holding Chief Marketing Officer Roles at Footwear Brands
Aug 28, 2024 – by Dana Levine
Men have historically dominated the top marketing job at footwear companies. But lately, female marketers have turned the tide.
Our data indicates that 55% of Chief Marketing Officers appointments in the footwear category this year were women, up eight percentage points from 2023. This insight was based on CMO executive search assignments and data from our Daily News Brief tracking, which showed footwear companies’ preference for female talent.
The CMO demographic at shoe companies in the past hadn’t reflected the female-dominated talent pool in the broader retail and consumer sectors, said Dana Levine, a partner who specializes in fashion, retail, and consumer experience brands. In fact, the number of women hired for CMO positions in the footwear space last year (47%) lagged slightly behind the 50% average for similar roles at Fortune 500 companies.
“There have also been a few case study examples of women reinventing the footwear category in recent years,” Levine told Footwear News. “Female marketing leaders were at the helm during Hoka’s key period of growth, Ugg’s recent brand transformation — and during the current era at Timberland. Footwear companies are taking note.”
The shifting CMO demographic could be due to footwear brands turning to neighboring industries for marketing talent. Nearly 70% of the 13 female footwear CMOs appointed from 2023 to 2024 hail from other industries, 23% were internal promotions and just one person was recruited from another footwear company, according to our data.
“The footwear industry has historically been a swirl of familiar faces, and now we are seeing footwear companies seek outside executives from neighboring industries with new perspectives, proven growth experience, and track records of leading brand transformations and strategic growth,” Levine said. “Many of those leaders happen to be female.”
For more, read the full article on FN>