REQUIRED READING POST

This decade so far has undoubtedly been one of the most challenging for global marketers in recent times. From the pandemic to wars, tariff uncertainty and a volatile political environment in many regions, as well as the relentless impact of AI, marketers need to be futurists to survive.

We know how at the start of this decade, in 2020, global economies were devastated by shutdown’s due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, with restrictions lasting up to two years in some countries and regions. Global trade was disrupted up to 2022. Following that, war in Eastern Europe and the Middle East has created political uncertainty, coupled with American tariff policy creating economic turmoil globally this year.

A couple of years ago we were still discussing the Metaverse, and now every conversation is about Artificial Intelligence and GenAI and of course, marketing is at the forefront of embedding AI in systems and strategy. Read our reports to gain further insight:

• The Pathway to GenAI Competitive Advantage – Is your data prepared to unlock GenAI's business value? After a year of delivering mostly marginal efficiency gains, GenAI is on the verge of accelerating functional effectiveness and competitive differentiation. Nearly 4 in 5 business leaders believe GenAI will deliver a competitive advantage over the next 18 months, such as AI agents improving the customer experience. But not everyone will be able to reap the benefits. Some 3 in 5 leaders aren't confident in their data-AI readiness to achieve GenAI value. Our report, examines how GenAI might shape, impact and influence the way data is used for competitive advantage if properly prepared and primed.
• Real-Time AI Interaction at the Point of Transaction. Digital innovation at the point of transaction is transforming America’s 200,000 drive-thru lanes, which serve 84 million Americans daily and account for 70% of quick-service restaurant sales. Source this guide to “in the-moment” marketing from the CMO Council and uKnomi. Find out how to seamlessly recognize and reward drive-thru customers at scale, enable profitable suggestive ordering conversations, and satisfy and gratify with faster more efficient service.

Futurists describe this decade as one of “global polycrisis”, meaning the world is lurching  from one crisis to the next. And in the middle of these uncertain times, are marketers, creating strategies to scaffold business and brands to not just survive but, thrive by prioritizing growth. CMO Council reports aim to gift marketers a strategy roadmap in times such as these:

• CMO Council asked our members what content they engaged with most, in our 2025 Member Survey. Popular content themes include digital transformation, leadership, and growth strategy in this fast-evolving marketing landscape.
• For a glimpse into this year, our annual assessment of leading Marketing Performance Indicators (MPIs) evidences a defining, milestone year ahead, in our CMO Council Marketing Vitality Index. It is time for marketing to move from its perception as a cost center to that of a command center powered by business-centric, real-time data-driven decisioning. The CMO Council curated the (MPIs) from trusted third-party sources, centers of domain knowledge, and proprietary data to inform an analysis on marketing vitality for each of the five major marketing categories: Marketing Mix + Spend; Organizational Dynamics; Market Outlook + Trends; Customer Affinity + Attachment; Technology Adoption + Execution.