CMO Council Celebrates 25 Years Of Shaping The Modern Chief Marketing Officer Role

In 2026 the CMO Council reflects on 25 years of an evolving and defining role for the chief marketing officer in the C-Suite (Image source: © CMO Council CMO Council)

The elite executive affinity network of some 20,000 global marketing leaders controlling nearly $1tr of annual spend, emphasises that CMOs today are no longer expected to simply build brands.

The modern CMO

“The modern CMO is tasked with applying insights to business problems, validating decisions with data, orchestrating seamless customer experiences, and embedding customer-centricity across the enterprise,” notes CMO Council founder and executive director Donovan Neale-May.

This is underscored by the staggering growth and digitisation of the Connected Economy between 2001 and 2025.

Global marketing spend is projected to reach $1.3tr (Warc) by 2026, with roughly 75% allocated to digital advertising.

There are now 7.49 billion mobile phones in use and nearly 6 billion people online. Social media users have surged to 5.25 billion globally.

“When the CMO’s role first emerged, it was largely about brand stewardship and communications,” states Martyn Etherington, a CMO Council advisory board member and CMO of BMC Software.

“CMOs who have endured did not survive by defending marketing or justifying its existence.

“They have survived by being fearless leaders, by redesigning marketing into a measurable contributor to growth.”

Benchmarking digital marketing performance

Currently, the CMO Council is benchmarking the level of digital marketing maturity, organisational capacity and performance predictability among its member companies.

It is looking at where and how modular, progressive and selective investments in marketing technology are improving marketing campaign effectiveness, market competitiveness, and overall business growth.

It has also formed a separate influencer group, the Growth Officer Council, engaging heads of revenue, commerce, business, strategy, sales and development.

Nearly 37% of chief marketers (one in three) audited believe marketing is still seen internally as being focused on execution and a tactical cost centre in support of sales rather than a strategic growth driver.

This compares to 35% who say marketing is now a strong growth driver in their business.

Another 27% report marketing is noticeably producing more business results.

Beginning in 2026, the CMO Council and the Chief Marketer Network will collaborate on new thought leadership initiatives with individual sponsor support to address some of the most pressing issues facing global marketing leaders.

The joint thought leadership initiative teams the CMO Council with a leading marketing intelligence hub connecting a global portfolio of seven specialised media brands reaching 1.6 million marketing professionals.

New CMO council president in the Asia region

With Asia Pacific set to overtake North America as the largest consumer market in 2035, the CMO Council has appointed a new president to serve the region’s growing community of marketing leaders.

Jamshed Wadia, a former head of marketing for Intel Corporation in APAC and Japan and Edelman’s vice chair for digital in Asia, steps into the role with a mandate to mobilise the Council’s resources, advocacy, and peer network in support of APAC’s marketing chiefs.

According to Bain research, private consumption in the APAC region is expected to grow at 7% CAGR to reach $36tr by the end of the next decade, presenting both massive opportunity and complexity for local CMOs.

Wadia brings over three decades of experience to the Council’s mission, having built Marketing Centres of Excellence at Intel and led the digital practice for Asia at Edelman, where he enabled the integration of artificial intelligence into strategy.

In his new capacity, Wadia is committed to directing the Council’s global thought leadership and community support to help CMO Council members in APAC navigate these shifts.

“The CMO’s role has never been more pivotal, requiring leaders to be creative souls, data scientists, and business strategists all at once,” says Wadia.

“My goal is to empower and support APAC CMO leaders through CMO council's global community, resources and knowledge base to keep pace with the needs of the CMO role, ensuring they secure their rightful seat at the C-suite table through clear, accountable business impact.”