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Integration, Automation and Clarity – What CEOs Should Expect from Marketing in the Second Half of 2025

As we enter the latter half of 2025, CEOs face a marketing landscape reshaped by rapid technological advancement and shifting customer expectations, all while navigating the uneven recovery and evolving market dynamics following several years of economic uncertainty. The stakes are high as brands navigate the convergence of AI-driven disruption, evolving sales cycles, increasing product and service commoditization, and the persistent challenge of aligning brand-building with performance marketing.

Integrating once-siloed corporate functions (sales, marketing and delivery) should drive effective marketing, while also changing the historic belief that these departments are on the expense side of the ledger, when in fact, they directly contribute to revenue generation ¹²³

1. Embracing AI and Data-Driven Personalization

Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic add-on; it is the backbone of effective marketing in 2025. CEOs must ensure their organizations leverage AI for automation, deep, real-time customer insights and hyper-personalization ⁴⁵.

• Predictive Analytics: AI enables marketers to anticipate customer needs, personalize campaigns and optimize spend by analyzing vast datasets ⁴⁵.
• Automation: From chatbots to campaign management, automation frees talent for monotonous work and ensures consistent customer engagement ⁴⁵.
• Search Disruption: AI is reshaping how customers discover brands, requiring new strategies for SEO, voice and visual search ⁴⁵.

Key CEO Expectation: Invest in AI-powered tools that unify data, drive actionable insights and deliver measurable ROI across every customer journey stage ⁴⁵. It’ll be the “quick or the dead” for brands if they don’t adopt tools to enhance marketing capabilities and improve outcomes. The mantra should be more, better and well-informed work done with less. That won’t mean spending less, but instead will deliver more value and better outcomes with less effort. 

2. Balancing Brand and Performance Marketing

The tension between long-term brand building and short-term performance marketing is sharper than ever. CEOs must demand a nuanced, dynamic approach that aligns with their company’s maturity and market position ⁶²³.

• Brand Awareness Fuels Performance: Early-stage or lesser-known brands should build awareness to drive future conversions, while established brands can optimize for both awareness and bottom-funnel conversions for immediate results ⁶.
• Nonlinear Buyer Journeys: Today’s decision-making is complex and digital-first, requiring brands to be present across multiple touchpoints and ready to convert interest into action at any moment ⁶.
• Continuous Recalibration: Regularly assess brand health and campaign performance, adjusting the balance as customer behavior and business goals evolve ⁶².

Key CEO Expectation: Insist on a “both/and” strategy—brand and performance marketing must work harmoniously, informed by ongoing measurement and recalibration ⁶²³. Executive teams must look at a three-tier marketing budget, including brand marketing to drive awareness, performance marketing to drive opportunities and sales integration to drive revenue. If organizations don’t tie this together, they’ll be left in the dust.

3. Customer Alignment and Journey Orchestration

Today’s customers are more empowered and discerning, with self-service and digital-first sales cycles now the norm. CEOs should expect marketing to lead the charge in mapping and orchestrating seamless, customer-centric experiences ⁷²⁶.

• Self-Service Sales: Buyers expect to research, compare and even purchase without direct sales interaction. Content, UX and digital authority are critical in supporting the buyer’s journey ⁶⁴.
• Omnichannel Consistency: To build trust and drive loyalty, brands must deliver unified messaging and experiences across all channels—social, web, email and in—person ⁴¹.
• Understand the Buyer’s Journey: Identify and optimize every buyer touchpoint, using data to reduce friction and personalize messaging  ⁷⁶.

Key CEO Expectation: Demand a deep understanding of the customer journey, with marketing departments orchestrating touchpoints that yield measurable business results ⁷⁶². Consumers expect more simplified, user-friendly buying experiences. Anything hindering a seamless customer experience will drive buyers to an easier and simpler experience.

4. Navigating Commoditization and Differentiation

With products and services increasingly commoditized, differentiation is more challenging and critical than ever. CEOs must expect marketing to lead in articulating and delivering unique value ²⁷⁶.

• Brand Storytelling: Authentic, purpose-driven narratives cut through the noise and build emotional connections ⁴⁶.
• Customer Experience as Differentiator: Beyond features and price, the experience a brand delivers is often the deciding factor ⁴⁶.
• Innovation in Offerings: Marketing should partner with product and operations to influence innovation and adapt to shifting customer needs ²⁷.

Key CEO Expectation: Prioritize investments in brand differentiation through storytelling, experience and innovation to avoid the race to the bottom on price ²⁷⁶. As products and services become more prolific and commoditized, the corporate brand will play an ever-increasing role in finding, connecting and working with the right customers.

5. Corporate Strategy and Decision-Making Agility

The pace of change demands that marketing be tightly aligned with overall corporate strategy and agile execution. CEOs must foster a culture of collaboration, transparency and accountability ⁸²⁷.

• Strategic Alignment: Marketing goals must map to short, medium and long-term business objectives ⁸.
• Clear KPIs and ROI: Move beyond vanity metrics to focus on those that drive business growth, such as customer lifetime value, retention and incremental sales ⁸⁹.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Marketing, sales, product and finance should work in lockstep to ensure unified decision-making and rapid response to market shifts ⁸².

Key CEO Expectation: Insist on clear, business-aligned metrics and a culture where marketing is accountable for driving growth, not just activity ⁸²⁷. Marketing, sales, product and financial results should be tied together to make better decisions, faster to respond and adapt to customer needs. 

Bonus Considerations for 2026 Budgeting

A. First-Party Data and Privacy: Smart Information, Well-Organized and Responsibly Managed

With third-party cookies eventually disappearing, CEOs must ensure their marketing teams build robust first-party data strategies and transparent privacy practices ⁴. The ethical and practical use of data will be critical in order for marketing efforts to be hyper-personalized to compete in a content-rich and overloaded environment. Being able to authentically connect with your audience, promote content that aligns with their interests and communicatethe right messages at the right time will be key for marketers and brands as we move forward.

• Customer Trust: Transparency about data usage builds trust and engagement ⁴.
• Data-Driven Personalization: First-party data enables more effective, privacy-compliant marketing personalization ⁴.

B. Sustainability and Purpose-Driven Marketing: Brand Associations Will Be Even More Important to Consumers and Key Stakeholders

Consumers and B2B buyers demand more from brands regarding social and environmental responsibility. While the strategy might not be sustainable, it will be increasingly important to consumers, employees and investors. Organizations must be careful not to make this their sole strategy, instead consider it a component of their approach. When you do good things, you should genuinely share them with your key audiences.

• Authentic Purpose: Brands that “walk the talk” on sustainability and ethics see higher loyalty and brand equity ⁴.
• Storytelling: Purpose-driven narratives should be woven into content, campaigns and corporate communications ⁴.

Brands that clearly communicate their value and enhance their storytelling will rise to the top in our noisy world. The key will be associating stories that can be supported and amplifying initiatives that customers value, which will be paramount for marketers moving forward.

Practical Steps for CEOs

Priority	CEO Action Item	Expected Outcome
AI & Personalization	Invest in AI, unify data, measure ROI	Smarter, more effective marketing>
Brand/Performance Marketing Balance	Demand dynamic strategy, recalibrate quarterly	Sustainable growth, optimized spend
Customer Journey Orchestration	Map touchpoints, reduce friction, optimize for self-service	Higher conversion, improved loyalty
Differentiation	Prioritize brand storytelling and experience	Stronger market position, less commoditization, increased retention
Strategic Alignment	Set clear KPIs, foster cross-functional collaboration	Faster, more accountable decision-making
First-Party Data & Privacy (Bonus)	Build data strategies, communicate transparently	Greater trust, compliance and personalization
Sustainability (Bonus)	Invest in authentic, purpose-driven initiatives	Higher loyalty, enhanced brand value

2026 Brand and Marketing Planning

The second half of 2025 promises to be a pivotal period for marketing leaders and CEOs. Those who embrace AI, balance brand and performance, orchestrate customer journeys, differentiate their brands and align marketing with corporate strategy will be best positioned to capture pent-up demand and drive sustainable growth ¹²⁴. 

Once silos are replaced with unified teams, cost savings will emerge as data begins to reveal inefficiencies across marketing, sales, and delivery functions. However, before these gains can be realized, it is essential to optimize marketing processes and system operations to ensure smooth, efficient execution. As you plan for your 2026 budget, prioritize investments in first-party data, privacy, and authentic brand purpose—these will define the brands that endure in the years ahead ⁴⁶.

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References:

1 Sprout Social, 2025

2 Gartner, 2025

3 MarTech, 2024

4 Digital C4, 2025

8 The CMO Syndicate, 2024

6 BrandExtract, Striking the Balance

7 LinkedIn Pulse, 2025

5 Harvard Professional, 2025

9 Wall Street Journal, 2025