CMO Outlook 2026

A global study of 500+ CMOs on the key challenges and competing forces shaping modern marketing leadership

CMOs are actively deprioritizing the long-term brand-building initiatives they believe are critical for future growth, favoring short-term performance outcomes that strengthen internal credibility and influence.
Organizational alignment is the hidden driver of marketing effectiveness. Across growth, AI adoption, measurement, and cultural relevance, stakeholder alignment emerges as an undervalued lever for unlocking marketing performance.
As marketers accelerate investment in AI implementation, many are shifting resources away from websites, user experience, thought leadership content, and loyalty programs—the very brand and experience foundations that increasingly shape AI discoverability and recommendation.
Cultural relevance has become an operational challenge as much as a creative one. Slow decision-making, fragmented governance, and organizational complexity often prevent brands from responding to culture at the speed required.

For the full picture on the competing forces reshaping marketing leadership in 2026, download the report.

Name *

email *

Company *

Country *

By proceeding, you agree to Lippincott's Terms of Use and acknowledge that we use personal information as outlined in our Privacy Policy. *

Thank you!

If the download does not start automatically, please click here

Please enable cookies to submit this form