At a Glance

  • Published by Lippincott"CMO Outlook 2026"Research shows that only 28% of CMOs say they have "very high" influence within their organizations. To earn respect and a voice in the C-suite, CMOs are increasingly prioritizing short-term results over long-term brand building.
  • Nearly 80% of CMOs believe bureaucracy often interferes with decision-making, and 84% say aligning leadership around a unified marketing vision is difficult. Fewer than half of CMOs believe their marketing departments enjoy a high degree of autonomy.
  • Under pressure to adopt AI, funding is flowing away from areas that can withstand AI disruption, such as customer experience, mobile apps, and loyalty programs.

Deep Insights

Facing pressure to deliver immediate results, slow decision-making processes, and increasingly complex organizational structures, CMOs are shifting focus toward initiatives that boost internal credibility, largely at the expense of long-term brand health. The report notes that CMOs are increasingly prioritizing the CEO's needs over their own judgment, and 15% of marketing leaders say they are not the top marketing decision-maker in their organization.

"CMOs cannot completely abandon the key metrics that measure business health, but they need to recalibrate internal relationships, advocating for long-term brand success metrics while holding firm on short-term goals—even when those arguments are unpopular," said Michael D'Esopo, CEO of Lippincott, in press materials.

The report shows that new marketing investments are flowing heavily into AI. However, this means less spending on building the infrastructure needed for brands to be mentioned in large language model queries. Only 12% of respondents rate their technology enablement as "excellent," and 11% say their organizations have "excellent" capabilities for adopting new technologies.

AI is not the only factor causing CMOs to be disconnected from the broader executive team. Most CMOs investing in cultural marketing say they would invest more if not for organizational barriers. Speed is a key factor: 35% of respondents say cultural marketing takes at least three weeks from concept to launch, and 25% say it takes over a month. Additionally, only 31% believe marketing and the broader organization have an equal understanding of culture, and 41% say they keep up with cultural trends while the organization lags behind.

The "CMO Outlook 2026" survey was conducted by NewtonX, an independent B2B market research firm. The research sample includes 541 CMOs or equivalent positions, with key industry distribution as follows: financial services (14%), technology (13%), retail (8%), and healthcare (7%). Respondent regions include: US and Canada (33%), Europe (22%), Asia-Pacific (22%), Latin America (20%), and the Middle East (2%).