Marketing chiefs face wider duties as budgets stall

Marketing leaders are taking on broader business duties even as their budgets have stalled, according to research and executives gathered at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The shift matters for companies because the marketing function is being judged less by campaigns alone and more by revenue, technology use and its role inside the wider business.

Fortune reported that executives at Cannes described a role that now stretches across artificial intelligence, community-building, company culture and data. Gartner’s 2025 Global CMO Spend Survey found companies in the U.S. and Europe put an average of 7.7% of revenue toward marketing in 2025, unchanged from 2024 and down from 9.5% in 2022.

The title itself is also changing. Forrester research cited by Fortune found that 49% of Fortune 500 marketing leaders held the CMO title in 2025, down from 55% the prior year.

Spencer Stuart found that one-third of Fortune 500 marketing leaders did not have “chief” in their title, while 16% had dual-function roles such as chief marketing and communications officer. Another 11% had titles that did not refer to marketing, according to the leadership consulting firm.

Companies fold marketing into wider roles

Several large companies have reorganized marketing leadership. Fortune reported that UPS has placed sales, marketing and communications under a chief commercial and strategy officer role.

Reckitt last year combined marketing with commercial strategy and gave regional teams more authority over brand-building in their own markets, according to Fortune. Ryan Dullea, Reckitt’s chief growth officer, told Fortune the move was meant to break down internal divisions and place more brand power closer to local markets.

Tim Ellis, executive vice president and CMO at the National Football League, told Fortune that marketing chiefs still need a direct voice in senior leadership. He said CMOs must understand marketing while also contributing to broader business decisions.

A Fortune and Morning Consult survey found that 46% of marketing and finance decision-makers said profitability and revenue growth are the best ways to show marketing’s value inside a company. Mélanie Brinbaum, Nestlé’s European head of marketing and consumer communications, told Fortune that CMOs now need fluency in finance, supply chains and risk to show where growth comes from.

Lynsey Woods, senior global brand director at Carlsberg, told Fortune that marketing leaders now speak daily with finance, data and technology teams. She said the spread of new technology and data has made that communication a core part of the job.

AI adds pressure to creative teams

The growing focus on financial results can strain marketing’s creative role. Ellis told Fortune that creativity still matters, though he said the job now also requires understanding how brands affect culture and society.

Marcela Melero, chief growth officer for Dove in North America, told Fortune that companies can dilute strong creative ideas when too many stakeholders weigh in. She said having another senior executive support a risky idea can make it easier to secure approval.

AI is adding another layer of pressure. The Fortune and Morning Consult survey found that 34% of respondents expect AI to replace some creative functions, while 19% said it could sharply reduce the need for human creativity.

Dullea told Fortune that generative and agentic AI have changed how marketing work gets done. At Reckitt, he said internal AI tools now produce insights and ideas in about a third of the time previously needed.

Zena Srivatsa Arnold, CMO of Sephora U.S., told Fortune that marketers should use AI for guidance while keeping their own judgment. Andrew Warden, vice president of marketing at Adobe, told Fortune that agentic AI is changing both marketing operations and the audiences brands must address, including AI agents as well as people.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.