#cmo-budgets

#cmo-budgets

Regulators are paying more attention to data privacy because their constituents consider it a 'kitchen table' issue, highlighting its importance in everyday life.

What we want to do is make sure that CIOs are fully empowered to be there at the beginning of conversations, that they are part of the formulation of budget and policy from liftoff.

We power over 160,000 restaurants. So you can imagine the data that sits in our platform. This data creates value for operators, allowing them to benchmark prices and identify opportunities for improvement.

The role of social media as an insights engine - instructing you on what audiences like, dislike, and are willing to buy - is unparalleled. This information can be crucial in guiding creative projects. It's impossible for a single creative director, no matter how great, to be able to understand the zillions of online communities and subcultures. Social media has helped culture become less homogeneous and that's a good thing. So let's use it to listen to those many diverse cohorts.

Too many CMOs have been doing the business of marketing, which is the role of a VP of marketing. The business of marketing is doing campaigns, managing channels, communications, engagements, and brand. The role of the CMO should be to do the business of the company: vision, deciding where the company is going, what the company stands for, and how it grows.

CMOs sit at the apex of brand, revenue, customer experience, technology, product, sales and data. Yet they're spending less time in top jobs. The average tenure of a CMO at a Fortune 500 company is now just 3.9 years. Furthermore, fewer Fortune 500 companies are employing marketing executives who report at a C-suite level; these once all-important roles are being absorbed and redistributed to chief customer and chief growth officers.

Key stat: 54% of US marketers plan to fully implement their generative engine optimization (GEO) strategy within three to six months, according to September 2025 data from Scribewise. Beyond the chart: Use this chart: Drop this into your next digital strategy review to show stakeholders the GEO timeline pressure. Use it to benchmark your team's implementation plans against the majority.

Nearly half of 15,639 adults from 16 countries surveyed by VML's research practice Sonar put the high cost of living in the top five problems facing society, while 86% said they find that people are more divided and unwilling to listen to one another. Nearly two-thirds say they sometimes struggle to find meaning in the day-to-day. But consumers are choosing to feel optimistic.

In order to make the best use of 2023 budgets, brands need to find a balance between scale and suitability. And, in a digital world, where platforms are able to reach huge global audiences, scale is at the fingertips of every brand. But, back in May, a panel session on the Tech Lab Stage raised the question: how can businesses manage the seemingly mutually exclusive concepts of safety and scale?