Source: Lippincott and Bloomberg Media(This month’s Research Round-Up features the CMO Outlook 2026 survey by Lippincott and Bloomberg Media. This research examines several important marketing issues from a unique perspective, and this approach makes the 100-page report well worth reading.)
Lippincott and Bloomberg Media recently published the results of their “CMO Outlook 2026” survey. The objectives of this study were to identify the major challenges today’s CMOs are facing, and to “help marketers see their challenges differently.”
The researchers contend that, while most CMOs face similar high-level challenges, the shape of the challenges faced by an individual CMO and how he or she responds to those challenges are largely determined by the organizational context in which the CMO is working.
About the Survey
The CMO Outlook 2026 survey produced 541 responses from CMOs or equivalent senior marketing leaders. Seventy-one percent (71%) of the respondents identified themselves as the “primary and senior-most marketing decision-maker” in their organization, while 29% said they were “amongst the senior-most marketing decision-makers” in their organization.
Thirty-three percent (33%) of the survey respondents were from the United States and Canada, and the balance were from Europe (22%), Asia-Pacific (22%), Latin America (20%), and the Middle East (2%).
The survey was conducted by NewtonX, an independent B2B market research firm.
Four Types of CMOs
What separates the Lippincott/Bloomberg study from others on similar topics is its focus on how the organizational context in which a CMO works affects the particular challenges they face and the actions they take to respond to those challenges.
The researchers identified four distinct cohorts of CMOs. Two of those cohorts consist of CMOs who are “organizationally empowered,” and the other two cohorts include CMOs who are “organizationally constrained.”
Organizationally empowered CMOs are those working in organizations where the value of marketing is understood and recognized by the CEO and other senior leaders, and where the CMO can influence the strategic direction of the organization.
Organizationally constrained CMOs are those working in organizations where the strategic value of marketing is not widely recognized, and where marketing is generally viewed as a support function.
The researchers identified two types of organizationally empowered CMOs – Transformation Leaders and Revenue Drivers.
Transformation Leaders – “Transformation Leaders are future-oriented marketers focused on transformation at scale, AI adoption, and long-term capability building . . . these CMOs tend to hold significant strategic authority within their companies and see marketing as a driver of broader business direction.”
