Only 7% of senior marketers feel they have all the tools for success

Ever feel like your marketing team isn’t firing on all cylinders? You’re not alone. Only 7% of senior marketers thought that they were at their best when it came to return on investment, brand purpose and investment in brand-building all at once, according to a survey from Growth From Knowledge. The German market research firm interviewed 633 global marketing leaders about how their company marketing stacks up across “impact,” “alignment” and “investment.” Ad Age Leading National Advertisers 2023 Ad spending, rankings and analysis for the biggest marketers and brands Enter here The survey, which included chief marketing officers, brand heads and directors or VPs of marketing, brand marketing operations or customer experience, defined impact as how well marketers understand what channels deliver the best ROI, and whether their team had the skills to execute the marketing strategy. The alignment category focused on whether marketers felt that they had a clear mission or purpose as a brand and whether the brand is an asset that helps with the bottom line. Investment was about balancing short-term and long-term brand building, and whether marketers' CEO and CFO knew the value of long-term investing. While 40% of senior marketers said they have all the necessary resources in at least one area, only 16% said they were strongly positioned for two, and just 7% said they feel equipped across all three. Performance improvement plan Senior marketers felt they needed work in the investment and impact areas. Only 19% of marketers in the survey thought of themselves as “optimally positioned” when it came to short and long-term investment in their respective brands. Of that group, 60% said they spend at least 70% of their marketing dollars on long-term brand building. A whopping 80% of marketers did not think they were in the best place when it came to impact, which refers to having the right skilled team or getting the best ROI. For the other 20% who were confident, nearly 60% of them cited having strong data, analytics, and insights. Marketers said they were doing better when it came to the alignment category. A quarter of them said they very strongly agreed that their company has a clearly defined mission and purpose beyond commercial goals, and also that the brand contributes to the company's commercial success. The survey found that these marketers usually had more say in product development and pricing decisions. Ad Age Best Places to Work Recognizing employers in advertising and marketing Enter here It's tough for telecom and logistics GfK then averaged marketers’ answers across the three pillars to generate a CMO Outlook Index. A higher score meant that marketers in a certain industry felt confident across all three categories. Marketers in technology, durables, and financial and professional services companies had the highest index score at 24, followed by consumer packaged goods and fashion and lifestyle (19), with utilities, telecommunications, and logistics companies having the lowest score at 17. The index also showed that marketers in companies with high annual revenues thought of themselves as best-positioned when it came to effective marketing. The overall index for marketing leaders in companies with annual revenues of less than $500 million was 12, compared to an index of 28 for those in companies with annual revenue of more than $1 billion.

Only 7% of senior marketers feel they have all the tools for success

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