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///CMO Outlook Index

Get to know the health of marketing and its impact on business with the CMO Outlook Index
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About the Index

The Index provides a pulse on how marketing leaders surveyed perceive the role and influence of marketing within their organizations based on three key pillars:
  • Marketing impact measures the capability and competence of marketing with a team who can clearly deliver ROI on their activities
  • Marketing alignment measures how well the business is aligned with marketing to leverage its brand’s commercial value
  • Marketing investment measures C-suite commitment to invest in brand, both in the short and long-term

Global

Only 7% of marketing leaders feel they are fully equipped for success

Here are some of the highlights:

  • Despite growing access to data, marketing leaders still feel like something is lacking. Yet the majority (60%) want to prioritize long-term brand building in their marketing allocations.
  • While 40% of the senior leaders surveyed say that they have all the necessary resources in at least one of the areas in the Index, only 7% say they feel equipped across all three pillars.
  • That said, 60% of those surveyed are prioritizing long-term brand building in their marketing allocations. And a majority see product development and pricing as a responsibility of marketing.
  • There are some differences (as expected) by region. The Americas reported a leading index score globally, reflecting a higher level of confidence of marketing leaders surveyed about the role and influence of marketing in their organizations as compared to Europe and the rest of the world. All can agree that marketing investment makes sense - just what to invest, where, and when are key.
A further breakdown of the Index by region is available below.

Americas

  • The Americas have the highest scores compared to other regions, particularly on marketing alignment.
  • This is even more pronounced when looking at alignment by job title for CMOs – 42% very strongly agree their organization has a clear sense of purpose and belief in the value of their brand.
  • Overall, senior marketers in the Americas are especially likely to say they have a clear brand mission or purpose.
  • High-revenue businesses in the Americas have an even greater degree of marketing confidence - businesses with turnover >$1bn score well above average at 37.

Europe

  • Europe has a relatively low marketing outlook index of 18 with the score for alignment particularly low at 19%.
  • European marketers also seem to feel a lack of C-level commitment to investing in long-term brand health 36% compared to 51% in the Americas.
  • Given the low overall scores in Europe, lower-revenue businesses don’t share the same pessimism about marketing outlook – their score is in line with the global average for businesses with an annual turnover of less than $50million.

Rest of the world

  • The rest of the world has a relatively low outlook index of 19. This hides considerable variation across markets, with emerging economies generally more optimistic than those that are more mature.
  • As with other regions, this score is lower among Heads of Marketing Operations and Customer Experience (at 15) than other job titles.
  • Those in global roles are among the more positive among the “rest of the world” marketers, with scores generally in line with their global peers while those in regional and in-country roles are less positive.

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