As the possibilities for marketing to new and existing customers expand every year with improvements from digital transformation, questions arise about the fundamentals and fragmentation of the function’s role. Is leadership still a clear hierarchical structure, or is it evolving into a more networked and distributed activity? Are responsibilities still clearly defined? How are decisions made? And what are the expectations for the team? Our latest wave of the CMO+CCO Meter provides a present-day snapshot of the marketing industry.

Insights for What’s Ahead

• Driving growth will be the key priority for marketing leaders, but securing the right talent to achieve this is critical, so setting the strategic direction for marketing’s contribution and leveraging talent and new tools—like AI—are the dominant focus areas for 2023.
• The role of the CMO is evolving into one of influence in emerging areas of digital transformation and authority in the fundamentals of brand building.
• Increasing workloads and the need for effective talent management will put pressure on the delivery of the marketing team. Volatile market conditions and emerging technologies will demand smart prioritization from leaders.