Did you know the average tenure for chief marketing officers (CMOs) at U.S. consumer brand companies increased to 48 months in 2014, which is double what it was in 2004?

This juicy tidbit of information was revealed in the 11th annual CMO tenure study by executive search consulting firm Spencer Stuart. In addition to being double the CMO tenure in 2004 when Spencer Stuart began its research in this area, 48 months also represents the first increase in tenure since 2011, when it was 43 months.

“There’s a lingering perception that CMO tenure is short, but the reality is the data shows long-term stability in the role,” said Greg Welch, a consultant in the Spencer Stuart Marketing Officer Practice, in a company press release.

What are some reasons CMOs are sticking around? They’re being given the opportunity to use digital tools and analytics to create value for their businesses, according to Tom Seclow, who leads Spencer Stuart’s Marketing Officer Practice.

“The ability to create measurably successful marketing initiatives has given CMOs credibility across the organization,” Seclow said in the press release. “CMOs are now clearly the advocate for the customer inside the company.”

Similar to past years, this year’s study found that CMO tenure varies widely across industries. Tenure is shortest in the automotive, restaurant and retail sectors, averaging between 26 months to 40 months. Meanwhile, CMOs in technology companies enjoy the longest tenure, averaging 65 months. Not far behind are financial services and industrial CMOs, both averaging 63 months.

In an article in Forbes last week, Welch said the study, which focused on the 100 largest advertised brands and companies, doesn’t reflect the rest of the market’s performance, which includes smaller and midsize companies.

“Within these other markets we’ve also seen incredible demand for talent, particularly those who are digitally savvy,” Welch added. He also dug a bit deeper into the data.

“Importantly, behind the data we’re seeing all kinds of interesting moves,” he said. “[Some] executives we know changed industries altogether; as an example, from automotive to restaurants, from publishing to the hotel sector, and yet another jumped from financial services into the photo industry.”

Welch also discussed the trend of marketers fleeing large corporations in favor of “entrepreneurial startups that offer the potential of a handsome payday, with less bureaucracy.”

Calling it “good news,” Welch explained that several new CMOs were promoted to their posts, “demonstrating quality succession planning from within the same company.”