Gale and Forbes Insights Study Reveals the Evolving Mandate of the Modern CMO

Business Agency GALE has released a report on the future of the chief marketing officer (CMO) based on research conducted in partnership with Forbes Insights. Titled 'The Business-Architect CMO: Building Future-Proof Growth Strategies,' the report draws on a survey of 300 CMOs from organisations with annual revenues of $500 million to over $10 billion. It examines how leading marketers are navigating complexity, balancing priorities, and collaborating across the C-suite to chart a path forward.

In today’s environment of rapid innovation, evolving consumer expectations, and persistent economic headwinds, the demands on CMOs have reached a fever pitch. According to the report, 67% of CMOs say their role now must extend beyond brand stewardship to encompass becoming architects of business growth. Despite this, gaps remain: only 19% of CMOs consider their organisations 'extremely effective' at demonstrating marketing’s impact across the full customer journey.

“As increased pressures necessitate a keen eye on where to invest, where to streamline, and what should truly be the priorities for marketers today, this research highlights the opportunity for CMOs to reclaim their role as drivers of growth,” said GALE global CEO Andrew Noel. “It also showcases the evolving role of the CMO as they must work across brand, business, and technology to discern the most impactful choices for their organisation – and how to communicate that effectively across the C-suite.”

Audience Leads for Future-Proof Marketing

When asked about the most important factors for a future-ready marketing strategy, and where they would allocate incremental budget, a few trends arose. While AI ranks highly, audience considerations emerged as the top priority. Given an unlimited budget, CMOs say they would prioritise investing in research and development around new customer experiences. For future-ready strategies, adopting an audience-first approach that keeps the customer’s voice at the forefront leads.

Core Barriers Persist, But Aren’t Uniform

Not even half of the CMOs surveyed (39%) consider their budgets fully aligned with their strategic visions. The challenges of demonstrating ROI for long-term brand investments and limited control over budget allocation create this constraint. Siloed data across internal departments, procurement, and IT-driven investments emerged as key barriers to telling a complete story around marketing’s impact, especially to fellow C-suite members.

While leading marketers agree the brand-versus-performance debate is obsolete, they still face challenges in balancing short- and long-term priorities. When asked what hinders their ability to do so, 42% cited an organisational tilt toward performance marketing over brand, while 38% cited the reverse. This split indicates that CMOs are grappling with divergent internal pressures rather than a single, universal constraint.

Adjusting to a Volatile Market

To shift strategies and tactics in a volatile market, 44% of CMOs surveyed are investing in advanced marketing technology to scale their efforts, while 40% build owned customer communities and loyalty programs to drive sustainable growth. Others are focused on adopting more flexible or real-time budgeting to stay agile (37%) and investing in delivery models that boost both output and quality, such as modular content systems or in-house studios (37%). The most successful strategies stem from investing in marketing technology, evolving measurement approaches to better capture value, prioritising customer loyalty and long-term brand building, and consolidating agency partnerships.

For more information or to access the full CMO report, click here.