AI bolsters marketing returns, weaker Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion investments and impact, and brand activism shifts to hot-button societal issues are among the results of the Fall 2023 edition. Results are based on a sample of 316 marketing leaders at for-profit U.S. companies, 96% of whom hold positions of VP-level or higher. Marketer Optimism Rises, While Marketing Spending Dampens: Marketing leaders are more optimistic about the U.S. economy, but inflation and its attendant uncertainty continues to dampen marketing spending. Marketing budget as a percentage of company budget dropped to ..read more

The past three years have disrupted life and business as we know it. Now that the world is emerging from a pandemic, what’s next? For insight, let’s flash back to 1920. The U.S. has just come through a deadly influenza pandemic, a world war, and was experiencing both substantial labor unrest and race riots across the country. It was in this context that then presidential candidate Warren G. Harding adopted the campaign slogan, “Return to Normalcy” to point voters back to “better days.” And while there were disputes about what was “better” about those days—similar to debates today—there is no ..read more

This webinar will discuss findings from the 28th edition of The CMO Survey with a focus on marketing spending and metrics. Professor Christine Moorman, Founder and Managing Director of The CMO Survey and the T. Austin Finch Sr. Professor of Business Administration at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University will lead the webinar and host practitioner experts and guests to discuss these topics in detail. When: May 3, 2022 12:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Register in advance for this webinar: https://duke.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Co3KcKC0Q6SPx0yC-ANb7g The post Webinar ..read more

Results from the February 2022 edition of The CMO Survey examined three topics on the minds of many marketing leaders and stakeholders—climate, privacy, and spending. Managing Climate Change: Only one-third of marketers surveyed report that their companies have specific goals related to climate change. Fewer than half of marketing leaders (47.4 percent) believe their companies are willing to make short-term financial sacrifices to reduce their environmental impact. Examining changes over time, we find that companies are less likely to take specific actions to reduce the negative impact of mark ..read more

Digital marketing spending has grown to comprise 58% of marketing budgets, reflecting 15.8% growth over the last year, and is projected to grow by 14.7% in the next year. In the wake of this spending, the 27th Edition of The CMO Survey finds that digital marketing is the No. 1 responsibility reported by marketers, superseding a dominant historic focus on brand-related activities. These and other results are based on a sample of 282 top marketers at for-profit U.S. companies, 94.1% of whom are VP-level or higher. The pandemic has prompted many companies to undergo a rapid transformation in thei ..read more

The dust is beginning to settle for marketers who helped steer their companies through marketplace volatility caused by the ongoing pandemic. While the profession took its knocks with job losses in 2020, the forecast is looking brighter moving into 2021. The 26th edition of The CMO Survey, which surveyed 356 marketing leaders, offers an overview of gains and losses and provides timely predictions for the year ahead. Companies reported that 8.2% of marketing jobs were lost over the last year (February 2020 to February 2021). These numbers are similar to the 9.0% loss reported in the June 2020 C ..read more

Almost a year into the Covid-19 pandemic and amidst enormous death and suffering, we have witnessed a year full of transformation and challenge for the field of marketing. The 26th Edition of The CMO Survey captures the digital, social and political upheaval the field has experienced and offers insights to guide marketers. Here are the top results based on a sample of 356 marketing leaders at for-profit U.S. companies, 94.5% of whom are VP-level or higher. Marketers’ optimism about the overall economy has rebounded beyond mid-pandemic and even pre-pandemic levels. Optimism hit 66.3 (out of 10 ..read more

Covid-19 has accelerated the adoption of digital tools among companies and customers. Eighty-five percent of marketers report an increased openness among customers to their digital offerings and 84% believe customers place more value on digital experiences than before the pandemic, according to a Special Covid-19 Edition of The CMO Survey from Duke University surveying marketing leaders at for-profit U.S. companies. CMOs are adjusting their offerings and pivoting their businesses to meet these new expectations and opportunities, with 60.8% indicating they have shifted resources to building cus ..read more

Optimism among marketers plummets to levels last witnessed during the Great Recession. Optimism about the economy is 50.9 (out of 100) compared to just three months ago when it was 62.7. In February 2009, following the Great Recession of 2008, this rating was 47.7. B2C companies are more pessimistic than their B2B counterparts, as are larger revenue companies (>$10B) compared to their smaller counterparts (<$25M). Against this backdrop, The CMO Survey conducted a Special Covid-19 Edition survey, asking marketing leaders at U.S. for-profit companies to share their survival strategies, KPI ..read more

Here are my top ten results from the February 2020 CMO Survey. These results are based on a sample of 265 top marketers at for-profit U.S. companies, 98% of whom hold the position of VP-level or higher. #1 – Growth Strategies Spending on existing markets and offerings continues to dominate growth spending (at 54% of investment), while diversification (spending on new markets and new offerings) continues to be lowest at 10.4%. Marketers currently spend about 2.1% of their budgets on China—up from 1.7% three years ago. Marketers anticipate these budgets to increase 100%, to 4.2%, in three years ..read more