Marketing Budgets Increased To 9.5% Of Company Revenue In 2022

Marketing budgets have risen to 9.5 percent of overall company revenue in 2022, an increase from 6.4 percent in 2021, according to Gartner’s annual 2022 CMO Spend and Strategy Survey.

Seventy percent of respondents reported their budgets had increased this year, however they still lag pre-pandemic spending levels when the average budget between 2018 and 2020 was just under 11 percent.


Digital Accounts For 56 Percent Of Marketing Spend, But Offline Channels Rebound

Chief marketing officers have transitioned from digital-first to hybrid multichannel strategies. When asked to report the proportion of their 2022 budget allocated to online and offline channels, respondents said online channels hold 56 percent while offline channels hold 44 percent of the available budget. This split is more equitable than in recent years, Gartner found. In terms of the average spend across industries, social advertising is first, followed by paid search and digital display.

“Post-lockdown, CMOs need to listen carefully to their customers and pay attention to the channels they are using, as this more closely resembles a hybrid reality,” said Ewan McIntyre, chief of research and vice president analyst in the Gartner for Marketing Leaders practice.


Marketing Spend Is Increasing Across Nearly All Industries

Average marketing spend has grown across eight out of the nine industries included in Gartner’s survey. Financial services companies have the highest budget at 10.4 percent of company revenue—up from the second-highest budget in 2021 of 7.4 percent. 

Travel and hospitality and tech products tied for second-highest budgets this year at just over 10 percent of company revenue—almost double what each allocated in 2021. 

Although almost all industries’ budgets increased, spending for CMOs at consumer goods firms has decreased somewhat, dropping from 8.3 percent in 2021 to 8 percent in 2022.


CMOs Confident On Brand Capabilities, But 58 Percent Lack In-House Resources

Brand was ranked as one of the lowest capability gaps, reflecting CMOs’ confidence in their capacities to manage. In fact, brand strategy and activation are near the top of the list of budget allocations across marketing’s program and operational areas, accounting for roughly 10 percent of the budget. 

Nevertheless, as Gartner notes, other strategic capabilities gaps remain—marketing data and analytics were cited by 26 percent of CMOs as a top capability gap, followed by customer understanding and experience management (23 percent) and marketing technology (22 percent). 

These points reveal a larger resource challenge for CMOs, with 58 percent reporting that their teams are incapable of delivering their strategy.

Gartner’s findings are based on a survey of 405 chief marketing officers and leaders in North America and countries in Northern and Western Europe. The survey was conducted between February and March 2022 and included marketing professionals from different industries at companies with varying sizes and revenues, with the majority reporting annual revenue of at least $1 billion.

Merkle’s Holiday Preparation Playbook For 2022

Brands have had to overcome countless hurdles over the past few holiday seasons. With rising inflation, supply chain issues, shipping delays, workforce shortages and potential new COVID strains, this year will be no different. To ensure your brand is ready for whatever this holiday season throws our way, Merkle just released its 2022 Holiday Preparation Playbook, which breaks down the prominent trends emerging this year, the keys to success around those trends and how to stand out in a crowded market.


How Brands Can Reimagine Their Approach For The Hybrid Shopper

This holiday season, focusing solely on ecommerce and delivery could eat into your bottom line. At the same time, if you only drive in-store shopping, you’ll miss out on opportunities to convert. A brand’s best bet is using a hybrid model. Here are some ways to set up yours for success.

Tighten Up Your Logistics 

  • Given that consumers want to know how many products are left in their size and desired color, and where to find them, transparency about inventory and product availability is a baseline requirement. So it’s important to ensure your product information management (PIM), enterprise resource planning (ERP) and other platforms are up to date.

Embrace A Total Commerce Approach 

  • The way that your brand ventures into the holiday season must be centralized—including budget, KPIs and internal alignment. If your organization isn’t working toward a single, unified goal on the back end, your front-end experiences will never truly align.

Make The Physical More Experiential

  • Consumers make purchase decisions online now more than they ever have before, but that doesn’t mean they won’t shop in-store. Moving into the holiday seasons, it’s important that you get more people through the door by creating specialized experiences only available in physical retail spaces.

Consider Delivery Hubs 

  • Brands with a large footprint should identify underperforming stores and help drive foot traffic while freeing up delivery congestion at other stores by converting the underperforming ones into dedicated destinations for curbside pickup; buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) or ship from store.

Embrace The Store-Within-A-Store Concept 

  • Retailers and CPGs can win this holiday season by embracing the concept of a store-within-a-store. While CPGs can benefit from the additional visibility opportunities by partnering with a retailer for a dedicated space within an established brick-and-mortar, retailers can optimize square footage and offer their customers another reason to shop in person.

How To Blend Your Physical And Digital Spaces

  • To maximize your physical and digital space, Merkle suggests creating a virtual showroom. Part of the appeal of in-store shopping is the ability to see, feel and try on products before purchasing them. Offer this experience to the customers who can’t make it in person by creating a virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) tool that puts them in the outfit or showcases the furniture in their home.
  • It’s now common practice to offer certain products exclusively online, but doing so can put some of your in-store customers at a disadvantage. Merkle advises providing those shoppers with an on-shelf QR code or physical lookbook so they can purchase additional online-exclusive products.

Meeting Customer Needs In An Uncertain World

Due in part to budget constraints, some consumers choose to spread out their holiday spending over several months rather than all at once. Merkle’s tip is to prepare and promote holiday products and deals as early as the changing of the leaves. In addition, pay attention to what consumers expect from your brand. According to Merkle’s research, along with that of other leading organizations, 42 percent of consumers believe that in-store purchasing is the most convenient way to receive products. Thirty-six percent feel the same about home delivery while just 13 percent feel the same about curbside pickup. Only 9 percent of consumers feel BOPIS is the most convenient way to receive products.

Additionally, research shows that roughly half of ecommerce sales will take place on mobile apps in 2022. Plus, 63 percent of consumers want free shipping and feel it’s very important in delivering convenient experiences. Sixty-nine percent feel brands should offer new ways to receive products. And according to Merkle’s first-party data, 42 percent of consumers want to handle customer service issues in-person rather than by phone, website, email, chatbot or social media. Here are more ways to meet customers’ needs in an uncertain world.

Plan KPIs For The Entire Quarter 

  • Though Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the two biggest shopping days of the season, it would be nearsighted to measure success based on that one week given the holiday shopping season now runs the entirety of Q4. Ensure your KPIs account for the entire season and that you’re planning for sustainable growth as opposed to a spike in the last week of November.

Cover The Basics 

  • Although we’re no longer dealing with lockdowns, several peak pandemic-era amenities are now necessities, including curbside pickup, BOPIS and other delivery methods.
  • Help streamline transactions by offering as many payment options as possible, including self-checkout, contactless checkout, mobile checkout and a buy now, pay later (BNPL) feature—which is particularly critical moving forward.

Align Your Options To Customers’ Experiences

  • Tap into your first-party data to determine how your customers like to pay for and receive products.
  • Serve up and pre-populate the payment, delivery and other options that best align with their preferences and habits.
  • Given inflation is affecting markets and segments differently, regional and demographic preferences and data are key.
  • Even if your system isn’t able to accommodate regional variances, be transparent about the options available and how your customers can engage with your brand to get what they’re looking for.

Consider Your Marketplace Strategy 

  • Because of the increased visibility and access to a broader range of consumers, it’s no longer a choice whether you should sell your products on a marketplace—it’s a necessity.
  • You don’t want to give all of your products and hold on relationships with customers away to third parties. Find the balance between which products will go on a marketplace and which will remain exclusive to your owned channels.

The Role of Content: How Brands Can Communicate Effectively Given The Hurdles Along The Way

Holiday planning starts at the beginning of summer and demands a well-thought-out, agile and flexible strategy. As you’re configuring these plans, remember that consumer behavior can change minute-by-minute; this means that your messaging, approach and priorities must be able to pivot at a moment’s notice. Customer loyalty and their purchasing decisions will be affected by how you respond during these periods of adjustment, so be transparent and communicative. Here’s where to start to get your content right.

Plan Out Your Calendar 

  • Most consumers have a budget that’s been set in stone. For this reason, it’s important that you capture as much of that budget as possible as early in the holiday season as possible, but do so without offering your best deals before Black Friday. To this aim and to drive demand throughout the season, take time to be deliberate about and stagger your offers and releases.
  • Check your plans against your data and be intentional about who gets what offer and when. For example, for customers who exhibit behavior that indicates a high likelihood that they’ll make a purchase this season, adjust your offer cadence to expedite their purchase or delay the offer to see whether they’ll purchase without the added incentive.
  • Leveraging your data to be more deliberate and precise about when to deploy the offers you have planned can help protect margin during these deep promotional periods.

Give A Reason To Believe

  • If you’re not among a customer’s top brands for product consideration, you may not get the opportunity to attract much attention. For this reason, it’ll be critical to give consumers a reason why and when to buy from you.
  • Be creative in finding ways to inform them about what’s coming so they can save some of their budgets, if necessary, and give you that consideration.

Leverage Chance-To-Win Promotions 

  • One of the most impactful strategies you can deploy leading up to and during the 2022 holiday season is running promotions to engage consumers. They help gather zero- and first-party data while impacting several necessary points of emphasis.
  • Chance-to-win promotions help drive conversions and increase sales; motivate specific, desired consumer behavior; bring consumers together to create social movements and train, engage and reward seasonal retail workers.

Focus On Charitable Efforts 

  • Remember that you won’t want to talk solely about your offers for the entirety of the season. Intersperse other in-demand topics such as sustainability, social-impact activities and how your brand gives back to its communities.
  • For younger consumers, a product’s price and quality are two considerations among many that influence their purchase decisions.
  • How you engage with society and the issues of the day are major drivers of how consumers behave with your brand as 83 percent of Gen Z consumers and 76 percent of millennials feel that brands should take a stance on social issues.
  • The holiday season offers a strategic time to share your charitable initiatives and potentially provide incentives for your customers to give back as well. A promotion, for example, that donates a portion of sales to charity provides an opportunity to drive purchases without a discount.

Holiday Content Ideas

Here are Merkle’s tips for engaging your customers using chance-to-win promotions from September through to the end of the year.

  • Digital Wish List With Chances To Win: Drive online engagement, time spent, education and incremental sales by offering online customers an interactive tool that allows them to build a personalized online wish list that they can then send to others. One lucky winner will receive everything on their wishlist.
  • Hashtag Sweepstakes: “Hashtag-to-win” campaigns on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok can be built quickly and are a simple way to grow your follower base, engage fans, build buzz and showcase user-generated content (UGC).
  • Days Of Giving Sweepstakes: Launch an advent calendar-inspired campaign where one consumer is offered a mystery price each day it’s active. The daily mystery prize will lure new consumers to your brand while building your database and keeping your brand at the forefront of people’s minds throughout your most crucial revenue-driving period of the year.

Deloitte 2022 Sports Industry Outlook

By the end of 2021, most professional sports leagues and college athletics returned to a relative sense of normalcy with full seasons and live fans, at which time organizations needed to find fresh new revenue streams and ways to deeply connect with fans.

This year, new emerging areas are poised to diversify sports. According to Deloitte, the sports industry continues to see an influx of money from new sources, increased adoption of emerging technologies, shifting power dynamics in college sports and a greater focus on broader societal issues.

With the abundance of options, fragmentation and overload could become more significant near-term challenges but the fundamentals of sports will remain the same, with fan experiences at the center.  

Deloitte’s 2022 sports industry outlook explores how these trends could create new opportunities and challenges for everyone involved: sports organizations, leagues, owners, teams, players and fans.


Among the report’s key takeaways include:

  • The blending of the real and digital worlds accelerate, with growing markets for data capture and analytics, esports, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and immersive technologies.
  • Blockchain-enabled innovations have a chance to open entirely new markets and options for fans beyond simple collectibles.
  • College athletics will see some of its biggest changes ever as student-athletes exercise more self-determination.
  • Sports betting has entered the mainstream and companies will continue their relentless pursuit of new customers.

The Accelerated Merging Of The Physical And Virtual

As augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies further develop, sports gaming and betting platforms are trying to imbue the energy, immediacy and excitement of in-person experiences into the digital realm. Deloitte sees this blending accelerate next year as new AR applications for training, simulation and broadcasting increase as well as the deployment of 5G and its low-latency benefits grow.

For example, Deloitte and the USGA collaborated on an AR app to enhance the fan experience, with near-real-time shot tracking and 3D course models. AT&T and the WNBA launched the Game View app to visualize game statistics in AR. And the NHL, together with Verizon and Immersiv.io, is bringing together player- and puck-tracking, along with new ways to consume real-time statistics for a more interactive in-game experience.

Another major trend accelerating the creation of the “phygital” world is the rapid growth of sports-related NFTs. Deloitte Global predicts there will be more than $2 billion in sports-related NFT transactions in 2022. In addition, all the major leagues now have NFT partners—for example, the NBA and WNBA with Dapper Labs and their Top Shot platform. The NFL recently announced a partnership with Dapper Labs (NFL All Day) and the MLB is working with Candy Digital. Deloitte has also seen a rise in the popularity of fantasy sports games—like Sorare—that blend fantasy sports, NFTs and real-world soccer into a new way for fans to engage.

Strategic questions to consider:

  • What’s the long-term sustainability of the sports NFT market? What can be done to drive more demand and engage as many fans as possible?
  • Will AR move beyond simply fun and interesting fan experiences to something more pervasive and essential?
  • How will these technologies shape other notable emerging business areas, such as ticketing and sports betting?
  • What new sports experiences blending the physical and virtual, sport and esport, will emerge?

Moving Beyond NFTs

With the rising use of cryptocurrency and associated exchange platforms, Deloitte predicts a nexus will form around sports collectibles, ticketing, betting and gaming. But it’s important to note that crypto has been playing at the margins of the sports industry for a few years now. Not only have some players been paid in crypto but a few teams in the MLB, NBA and NHL are accepting it for season tickets and other merchandise.

In an effort to drum up greater brand awareness, legitimacy and customer acquisition, crypto players have been betting big on sports sponsorships. The crypto exchange FTX inked a five-year deal with MLB and bought the naming rights to the arena for the NBA’s Miami Heat. Coinbase partnered with the NBA and WNBA in the hopes of educating fans, and the Staples Center was recently renamed Crypto.com Arena.

In the next few years, Deloitte expects to see more experimentation in linking individual and season tickets to blockchains, at first with the bundling of tickets with NFTs to reward fans. In the future, with proper smart contract capabilities, fractional ownership of season tickets and suites and a reinvention of the ticket resale process could be viable. 

This activity could increase the use of dynamic ticket pricing and portions of ticket resales going back to teams or leagues, creating a new revenue source. Before this practice becomes widespread, Deloitte says standards should be established, robust consumer protections should be enacted, fans must be educated and compliance and tax implications should be considered.

Strategic questions to consider:

  • What ultimate role will crypto play in sports betting?
  • Will potential US regulation of the crypto market have a significant impact on its growing connections with sports?
  • Will we eventually see universal wallets that will work across sports so that fans can have a simple and easy user experience?

Shifting Powers In College Athletics

Several events of 2021 foreshadowed the dramatic power shifts set to unfold in college athletics over the next decade. As Deloitte notes, the NCAA expanded the one-time transfer exception to all Division I sports, which means student-athletes in more popular sports don’t have to sit out for a season if they transfer schools.

Next, some states passed legislation allowing college athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL), which prompted the NCAA to release interim policies so all student-athletes can take advantage of the opportunities that result. 

Finally, several schools announced they’d be changing athletic conferences over the next few years.

With student-athletes free to pursue financial opportunities across social and traditional media, ecosystems of agents, consultants and digital services are quickly being built to capitalize on the opportunity. Some athletes are seeing more than $1 million in opportunities for their NIL efforts. As the power between student-athletes and coaches shifts, Deloitte expects positive and negative consequences: potential recruiting advantages, changes in gender disparity, newfound attention to niche sports and more empowered student-athletes.

Strategic questions to consider:

  • Will federal action take place regarding NIL? Will these changes exacerbate or improve gender disparity issues in college athletics?
  • How will the proposed changes to the NCAA constitution, which gives more power to the divisions, impact these issues?
  • What will be the implications of these issues to smaller schools and the vitality of their sports programs?

A Tipping Point In The Sports Betting Market

Sports betting—which brought in about $1.5 billion in revenue in 2020—is legal and active in 29 states as of November 2021. As the activity continues to grow—it’s anticipated to reach $6 billion by 2023)—three major players are leading the way: DraftKings, BetMGM and FanDuel.

In a frenzy for customer acquisition, they’re shelling out big bucks on advertising and sponsorships to build brand awareness and expand their traditional base. But in doing so, Deloitte says they run the risk of overwhelming the nascent marketing or alienating fans. That’s why the NFL has limits on the number of TV spots they sell to sports betting companies and similarly, the NBA isn’t allowing sportsbooks to advertise on jerseys.

Deloitte sees this tipping point as an accelerant for market consolidation. In developing their infrastructure and portfolios, companies are seeking to acquire strategic technologies to bring in-house and expand their user base. 

They’re also looking to integrate fantasy sports, sports betting and iGaming. Case in point: Caesars Entertainment’s acquisition of William Hill for $4 billion, Bally’s merger with Gamesys Group for $2.7 billion and the failed merger of DraftKings and Entain for $20 billion.

Strategic questions to consider:

  • Will the sports betting spending boom on advertising convert to new customers and will it lead to sustainable growth?
  • How much regulatory and fan pushback will we see, especially with regard to underage gambling?
  • What innovations will we see as sports betting blends into the overall fan experience, including in-venue, broadcasting and streaming?
  • As the market consolidates, what common attributes will the most successful betting operators have?

Becoming A Market Maker With Pernod Ricard’s Pam Forbus

Pam Forbus is the CMO of Pernod Ricard, where she focuses on building trusted brands through consumer-centric marketing. Pam is the leader behind many recognizable Absolut campaigns, including #VoteResponsibly and #MixResponsibly. Prior to joining the Pernod Ricard team, Pam spent two decades leading teams at Disney, PepsiCo, and Frito-Lay. Pam has navigated challenging times throughout her career, from the ‘08 financial crisis to the COVID-19 pandemic, and has come out stronger on the other side.

On the show today, Pam and I discuss how the pandemic changed the way she approaches marketing and the importance of responsible marketing, especially for a spirits brand. Pam shares how she successfully builds trusted brands through consumer-centric marketing and how her team is approaching consumer trends, including premiumization and in-home consumption.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Data-driven decisions are consumer-centric decisions
  • How a cross-functional marketing team enables you to adapt to changes
  • Lean into your brand’s DNA

Key Highlights

  • [03:00] Pam’s career path
  • [09:30] Using data to make consumer-centric decisions
  • [12:45] Aligning marketing strategy with what drives purchases
  • [17:00] Leaning into your brand’s DNA
  • [21:00] Consumer trends in the spirits industry
  • [27:30] Leveraging a cross-functional marketing team
  • [32:30] What makes a CMO/CEO relationship successful
  • [35:45] An experience that defines Pam
  • [38:00] Pam’s advice for her younger self
  • [40:00] What marketers should be learning more about
  • [44:00] The biggest challenge for marketers today

Resources Mentioned:

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Connect with the Guest:

Connect with Marketing Today and Alan Hart:


Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth opportunities. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine companies.

Twitter Launches Spaces Dedicated To Super Follows

This week in social media news, Twitter debuts Spaces dedicated to Super Follows, Snapchat and eBay announce a new shopping integration and Apple promotes mobile data protection features in a new ad spot.


Twitter’s Debuts New Super Follows-Only Spaces

Twitter has expanded its live audio offering, Spaces, to Super Follows, its paid subscription service that gives users access to bonus content from their favorite creators and influencers.

Why it matters: The new Super Follows-only Spaces could help popular Twitter influencers grow their user base by engaging fans with exclusive audio content. Though not all users can access Super Follows yet, the ones that can get to decide on a monthly subscription rate between $3 to $10 a month.

According to its most recent earnings report, Twitter brought in $94 million from subscriptions and other revenue (including data licensing) in the period, a decrease of 31 percent year-over-year.

The details: Super Follows-only Spaces give users bonus content and extra perks. Within the app, the new feature takes on a different color palette for the Spaces link while a note above describes it as a “Super Follows only” broadcast.


Snapchat Announces New eBay Shopping Integration

More than 142 million buyers shop on eBay globally and now Snapchat is looking to target some of that audience on its app. The platform announced a new shopping integration that lets Snap users share eBay listings with their friends right into Snaps using the Snap Camera on Android and iOS.

Why it matters: Snap’s new eBay integration comes on the heels of younger generations buying upcycled products more frequently and prioritizing climate change and sustainability. eBay has bolstered its efforts to reach these conscious shoppers recently—in 2020 it launched a sneaker authentication service that verifies shoes sold on the platform match what their listings claim and expanded the service to include handbags in the summer of last year.

The details: To access the new Snapchat feature, users have to open their eBay app and select their listing then tap the “Share” icon and the “Snapchat” option. This will automatically open the Snapchat Camera with the automated eBay sticker. From there, users can create an original Snap with the eBay sticker and add design touches using Snap’s creative tools.

When a user sends a Snap that includes an eBay sticker to their story or directly to friends, the recipient or viewer will be able to tap the eBay sticker to jump back to the listing in the eBay app.


Apple’s New Pro-Privacy Ad Aims To Assuage User Concerns About Selling Of Personal Data

With a new ad campaign spotlighting how the data broker industry trades in mobile users’ personal data, Apple is hoping to raise awareness around its features aimed at protecting personal data, like its app tracking transparency option and mail privacy protection feature.

Why it matters:  According to a 2019 Pew Research Center survey, 81 percent of the public say that the potential risks they face because of data collection by companies outweigh the benefits. When asked whether they think their personal data is less secure, more secure or about the same as it was five years ago, 70 percent of adults say their personal data is less secure. Only 6 percent report that they believe their data is more secure today than it was in the past.

While Apple’s pro-privacy stance and features might mitigate users’ concerns about being tracked, tech giants and developers who rely on tracking and ads to monetize free apps take a hit each time a user clicks the “Ask app not to track” button their iPhone.

The details: In Apple’s new 90-second spot, which will run across 24 countries this summer on broadcast and social media, a shopper in a record store stumbles upon an auction where data brokers are bidding on her personal data, including her read emails, drugstore purchases, location data, transaction data, browser history and more—until she looks down at her iPhone to click the “Ask app not to track” button and enable the email privacy protection feature. Then the entire auction and quirky cast of bidders instantly disappear. The spot concludes with: “It’s your data. iPhone helps keep it that way. Privacy. That’s iPhone.”

Stitch Fix Names Debbie Rose Woloshin Chief Marketing Officer

This week in leadership updates, Stitch Fix hires Debbie Rose Woloshin as chief marketing officer, Kohl’s chief marketing officer Greg Revelle is set to exit, Billboard elevates Dana Droppo to chief brand officer and more.


Stitch Fix Hires Debbie Rose Woloshin As Chief Marketing Officer

Debbie Rose Woloshin has been tapped as Stitch Fix’s new chief marketing officer, according to a press release. In her new role, Woloshin will lead the company’s marketing teams across the US and UK.

Previously, Woloshin was chief marketing officer at Marc Jacobs. Before that, she led marketing at Frye Company and Ann, Inc.


Kohl’s Chief Marketing Officer Greg Revelle To Step Down

As Kohl’s shops around for a buyer for its business, its chief marketing officer Greg Revelle is set to exit next month, reports Ad Age.

Revelle first joined Kohl’s in 2017 after a stint as Best Buy’s chief marketing officer.


Billboard Elevates Dana Droppo To Chief Brand Officer

Billboard has promoted Dana Droppo to chief brand officer, Billboard parent company Penske Media announced recently.

Previously Billboard’s senior vice president of marketing, Droppo will oversee branded content and client services, analytics, live events, video production, and design for the brand in her new role.


WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon Takes Leave Of Absence

Stephanie McMahon, WWE chief brand officer, announced last week that she’s stepping down temporarily to focus on her family. She tweeted:

“As of tomorrow, I am taking a leave of absence from the majority of my responsibilities at WWE. WWE is a lifelong legacy for me and I look forward to returning to the company that I love after taking this time to focus on my family.”

Involved with WWE programming since the age of 13, McMahon was promoted to executive vice president in 2007 and assumed the role of chief brand officer in December 2013.

The news means that her father, chairman and chief executive officer Vince McMahon, is the only remaining McMahon with a significant role at WWE.


DMG Media Appoints Sean Walsh Chief Brand Officer, Head Of US Operations

DMG Media—the parent company of the Mail Newspapers, MailOnline and Daily Mail—has hired Sean Walsh as its global chief brand officer and managing director of US operations.

Walsh spent the past nearly eight years as chief brand officer of DailyMail.com. Prior to that, he was head of digital and trade communications at Nine.

Trend Set: NHL Mixed Reality, Cappuccino.fm

Ayzenberg Junior Strategist Ashley Otah recounts the past week’s trends.


NHL Mixed Reality

Ice, ice, baby. The Colorado Avalanche team breaks the ice with the NHL’s first-ever mixed reality spot. In partnership with Chipotle, the team brought a theatrical moment to life that could have otherwise been a purely physical activation. However, the digital and the material use lends itself to a more immersive experience. With mixed reality, users feel engaged, broader audiences are reached, and a look into the future can be seen. The global mixed reality market was valued at 553.27 million dollars in 2020 and is expected to reach 5811.09 million dollars by 2026. There is a clear indication of increasing adoption, and the activation underscores how brands can harness the power of mixed reality within any vertical.

TikTok Credits

Credit, where credit is due. The TikTok team is rolling out a new feature that allows creators to give credit and tag other creators that inspired their content. The addition is a big move as previously, this was a pain point cited by BIPOC creators and a roadblock as people screen recorded, stitched, and utilized others’ content freely. However, allowing users to credit original creators of trends is also monumental as it gives visibility, encourages continued creativity, and opens up economic opportunities that were previously unattainable. Empowering creators and allowing them to foster their communities organically is a win-win for creators, brands, platforms, and the like.

Cappuccino.fm

Heard it here first. Cappuccino.fm, a daily personal audio show featuring friends, is a self-described “Mini podcast for elite friend groups.” The app allows for daily recordings of audio-based stories and then compiles a curated playlist for groups to enjoy. The app is an amalgamation of features many desire to have in a distilled and easy to utilize way/use manner. Other apps like Spaces and Clubhouse have also risen to fame as conversation corners of the internet. If not social, the number of podcast listenerships and other audio mediums amongst all ages also indicates increased audio desire. The app showcases the increasing power of audio-based social and consumers’ desires for more intimate social interactions. Brands can continue to explore this with features such as close friends, unfiltered yet curated content, and audio opportunities.

Global CTV Impressions Outpace Mobile, Accounting For Nearly Half Of Video Impressions

Connected TV (CTV) surpassed mobile as the channel with the greatest share of global video impressions, with 46 percent of all video impressions, up from 40 percent in 2020. Meanwhile, mobile dropped from 43 percent to 39 percent, a sign that consumers keep flocking to streaming devices to get their content.

That’s according to Innovid’s 10th annual Global Benchmarks report, which uncovers CTV’s critical role in the converged TV landscape and outlines deeper measurement and optimization tactics marketers can use to improve their CTV strategies as advertisers shift their spend to the channel. 

In its report, Innovid explains three main findings, including:

  • As CTV takes center stage, plan for streaming dominance.
  • Advanced creative outperforms at engaging audiences.
  • CTV reach and frequency have room to scale.

As CTV Takes Center Stage, Plan For Streaming Dominance

As restrictions eased and the world opened back up in 2021, consumers continued their pandemic-induced obsession with streaming. And as they flocked to CTV.

In 2021, as CTV comprised the largest share of video impressions across all devices, CTV ad spend in the US reached $14.4 billion. And while global video experienced year-over-year (YOY) growth across all devices, CTV earned the highest increase at 47 percent—more than twice the rate of mobile (16 percent) and desktop (14 percent). 

Needless to say, CTV is no longer in its experimental or emerging stage. It’s an integral pillar in the marketing landscape and offers consumers a premium viewing environment coupled with data-informed targeting and captivating ad formats.

CTV outpaced mobile and PC’s growth to secure its position as the medium with the highest impression volume globally considering that more time spent watching CTV meant less time spent watching linear. In 2021 in the US, linear TV declined and is projected to continue that trajectory according to eMarketer. The pandemic also accelerated the rate at which cord-cutters replaced pay TV with streaming. 

According to Innovid’s research, linear and digital viewing are expected to be roughly equal by 2023, so marketers should embrace converged viewing across linear, CTV and digital. 

Innovid also found that every vertical increased its video contribution to CTV ads in 2021. The five leading verticals allocated more than 50 percent of video impression share to CTV. These figures were:

  • Travel, 63 percent 
  • Auto, 60 percent
  • QSR, 58 percent
  • CPG, 52 percent
  • Retail, 51 percent

Programmatic: The Rising Star

As convergence accelerates and brands demand more speed and flexibility, programmatic video advertising is on the rise. According to Innovid, slightly less than 33 percent of CTV impressions were served programmatically in 2021. Programmatic and social buying gained ground as broadcast native publishers lost it. And according to eMarketer, CTV will soon account for more than 20 percent of total programmatic video ad spending for the first time. 

CTV impression share by publisher type in 2021 was as follows:

  • Broadcast, 54 percent (down from 61 percent in 2020)
  • Programmatic, 30 percent (up from 26 percent in 2020)
  • Social, 13 percent (up from 10 percent in 2020)
  • Other, 2 percent (up from 1 percent in 2020)
  • Digital,1 percent (unchanged from 2020)

Advanced Creative Outperforms At Engaging Audiences

As consumers increasingly expect personalization and relevancy from advertising on digital platforms, advanced video creative—including dynamic and interactive formats—has allowed marketers to respond while also delivering higher performance through engagement as well as incremental time earned.

According to Innovid, here’s what engagement rates by device and video format look like in 2021:

Mobile

  • Dynamic video, 0.7 percent
  • Interactive video, 0.9 percent

PC

  • Dynamic video 0.5 percent
  • Interactive video, 1.3 percent

CTV

  • Interactive (non-choice), 0.5 percent
  • Interactive (choice), 23.7 percent
  • Interactive (total), 5.4 percent

Interactive CTV Grabs Top Billing With Engagement, Video Completion Rate And Time Earned

Marketers have more opportunities to monetize through interactive video ad formats. Interactive video creative provides more engagement than dynamic video across mobile and PC. And interactive CTV creative does far better than interactive mobile and PC, at 5.4 percent overall.

Interactive CTV’s performance stands out, in part, due to its ability to drive earned time with consumers. This translates to more opportunities for brand awareness and conversion. Advertisers who engage advanced creative have achieved an additional 47 seconds of time earned in 2021: that’s 11 seconds higher than 2020, according to Innovid. Interactive CTV led the charge by producing an incremental 72 seconds of time earned between brands and potential buyers.

Engagement rates, video completion rates (VCR) and time earned by video ad format included:

  • Dynamic video achieved 0.5 percent engagement, 72.9 percent VCR and 28.9 seconds earned.
  • Interactive video on mobile and PC achieved 1 percent engagement, 62.4 percent VCR and 34.8 seconds earned.
  • Interactive video on CTV achieved 5.4 percent engagement, 94.7 percent VCR and 72.3 seconds earned.

QR Codes Drive Interactive CTV Growth

Quick response (QR) code usage skyrocketed in 2021 given its touch-free, easy-to-use functionality. At the same time, CTV experienced similar growth with the largest activity coming from QR codes, which drive consumers to landing pages with detailed product information and opportunities for conversion. According to Innovid, QR codes have seen impressive engagement, with a scan click rate of 0.02 percent. While low in comparison to display metrics, this incremental engagement reflects high intent and follow-through on the part of the audience.

Here, shorter ads are best at capturing consumers. Across all devices, videos 30 seconds or less produced stronger completion rates of 80 percent or more when compared to longer-form videos, which saw completion rates of 67 and 77 percent. Last year, marketers utilized shorter formats’ successful completion rates as more than 95 percent of all video ads were 30 seconds or shorter. 


CTV Reach And Frequency Have Room To Scale

CTV campaigns in the US reached on average 9 percent of the more than 95 million households with CTV that Innovid can reach. Despite a surge in advertiser CTV adoption, 58 percent of campaigns included 19 million or fewer impressions and reached a mere 3 percent of households on average—representing an opportunity to increase reach.

Here’s what household reach based on impression volume looked like in 2021:

  • Over 100 million, 36 percent
  • 40-99 million, 18 percent
  • 20-39 million, 9 percent
  • Less than 19 million, 3 percent

CTV Frequency Isn’t Maxed Out

CTV’s average frequency of 4.1 exposures shows it’s possible that marketers have greater leeway for reaching new households and can shift investment into CTV without risking oversaturation. But Innovid notes that frequency can be problematic if left unchecked so it’s best for marketers to maintain a holistic household view to understand and manage over-exposure.

On average, only 8 percent of campaigns had a high frequency of over 10 exposures, while 67 percent had a low frequency of one to two exposures, and 25 percent had a medium frequency of three to nine exposures.


Best Practices

Innovid concludes the report with three CTV advertising best practices: 

  1. Plan for streaming dominance. Mobile is giving way to CTV, linear is catching up and streaming remains part of a cast of players. Real-time actionable intelligence is key to maximizing the whole and driving favorable business outcomes.
  2. Enhance engagement with advanced creative. Think beyond awareness and make video work across the funnel through data-driven formats that incite action with geo-targeted relevance and QR codes.
  3. Maximize reach while managing frequency. Gain a unified view of reach and frequency across the converged media landscape by adopting an always-on cross-platform measurement.

Marketing Spending Growth Breaks 10% For First Time In A Decade

Annual growth in marketing spending exceeded 10 percent for the second time in the last 10 years and is anticipated to increase to over 13 percent through 2022, according to the 28th edition of the CMO Survey.

The report, which shares insights on brand trust, climate change, privacy and more, also found that marketing budgets as a percent of overall budgets rose to 11.7 percent, resetting to pre-pandemic levels while marketing budgets as a percent of revenues increased to 10.3 percent. Among the survey’s key findings include:

  • Digital marketing spending accounts for just over 57 percent of marketing budgets and is expected to grow by over 16 percent over the course of the next year.
  • Investments in digital marketing have increased across the board while investments in data analytics increased by roughly 40 percent over the last year and are now the most common marketing investment.
  • Survey respondents report the integration of customer data across all touchpoints and combining digital and offline data as the most prominent digital marketing challenges they face.
  • Just one-third of marketers surveyed reported that their company has in place specific goals related to climate change. Less than half of those marketers believe their companies are willing to make short-term financial sacrifices for climate change.
  • Companies are less likely than they were in prior years to take specific actions to reduce the negative impact of marketing-related activities on the environment.
  • Forty percent of companies are not taking any climate-related actions, either because they don’t feel customers or partners will reward such action or because some customers aren’t willing to pay more for climate-friendly offerings.
  • Over the last decade, there has been no increase in the concern over marketing’s impact on the climate.
  • Marketers expect a 75 percent increase in first-party usage over the next two years, as compared to second-party data (46 percent) and third-party data (39 percent).
  • There has been no meaningful increase in privacy concerns since 2019 as marketers label them as “moderately” concerning. This may be explained by the fact that roughly 66 percent of marketers feel that customers will stick with current brands instead of switching for the purpose of increasing privacy
  • More than 90 percent don’t believe consumers read or understand privacy disclosures. Nevertheless, marketers continue to take actions to ramp up brand trust in the face of ongoing privacy issues.

Macroeconomic Forecasts

Just under 40 percent of marketers are less optimistic about the US economy in Q2 2022 compared to the previous quarter—up from 37 percent in February 2021, the survey found. This decline is consistent with the rise of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, inflation and ongoing supply chain issues.

The report found that optimism reached almost 67 percent, which is lower than that reported in August 2021, but considerably higher than the 51 percent figure reported in June 2020.

Marketing Spending

As a portion of overall budgets, marketing budgets have returned to pre-pandemic levels at 11.8 percent. Annual growth in marketing spending surpassed 10 percent for the second time in a decade and, according to the report, is predicted to reach 13.6 percent over the next year. Digital marketing spending is also expected to increase, growing by 16.2 percent during the same time frame.

Over the course of 2022, marketing spend is predicted to increase across all categories, including brand building (11.8 percent), customer relationship management (9.5 percent), new product introductions (8.8 percent), customer experience spending (8.6 percent) and new service introductions (5.3 percent).

Marketers report customer acquisition budgets being 14.7 percent larger than customer retention budgets as companies spend roughly 7 percent more on research and development than they do on marketing.

Marketing Performance

Marketing performance surged for all tracked metrics compared to the previous 12 months. In February 2021, approximately one year into the pandemic, marketers reported a 0.3 percent revenue gain over the previous year. In February 2022, revenue gains recovered and reached about 14 percent on average.

Similarly, marketers reported a 10.7 percent increase in profits in February 2022—almost 8 percentage points higher than that reported one year prior. These growth rates point to the contention that despite its pace, business is recovering from the negative financial effects of the pandemic.

From a societal perspective, companies’ metrics haven’t changed much over the last 10 years. In February 2011, for example, marketers reported a 3.2 rating for their companies’ marketing having had a positive benefit to society. This most recent CMO Survey reported a 3.3 rating.

Customers And Channels 

Ranked as the top priority by 31.3 percent of marketers, superior product quality will be their customers’ top priority in the next year. Beyond that, excellent service (22 percent) and trusting relationships (14.3 percent) will also be prioritized. These findings are similar to those found in August 2021; though compared to February 2020, there’s now a greater emphasis on product quality—especially within the business-to-consumer sector where product quality increased as the top priority from 7.4 percent to over 39 percent.

A similar trend emerges when studying companies in the consumer packaged goods sector. Here, product quality wasn’t prioritized by any of the survey respondents in February 2020. That month, over 45 percent of those companies identified superior innovation as their customers’ top priority. Now, that figure is 10.7 percent. This trend aligns with consumer behavior of flocking to tried-and-true brand name products during their stress-induced pandemic shopping sprees—a phenomenon that caused companies to divert funding away from innovation and toward their core product lines.

Considering this new emphasis on product quality, most marketers believe their customers trust their brand above the industry average. Business-to-consumer and business-to-business service companies believe this more strongly and rated themselves as 8.2 and 8.1 out of 10, respectively.

Marketers have reported a notable reduction in the use of channel partners over the last decade—they’ve moved toward disintermediation to market alone. The companies that continue to use channel partners are consumer packaged goods companies (80 percent) and companies with over $10 billion in sales (76 percent).

Marketers Report Strong Brand Trust From Customers

Over 90 percent of companies believe that customers trust their brand more than the industry average. Of those that believe they are significantly less trusted are pharma/biotech companies – unsurprising considering the COVID-19 pandemic and issues around vaccines.

Managing Digital Marketing Returns

Investment in digital marketing activities has increased since February 2021 as it continues to be a priority for marketers.

Data analytics investments are now the highest priority, increasing from 56.5 percent in February 2021 to 77.5 percent one year later. Pointing to a stronger push toward customer-level data management and advanced customer analytics, some of the other top movers include marketing technology systems or platforms (14 percent), managing privacy issues (20.5 percent) and improving company apps (32.6 percent).

Despite these successful figures, the survey notes there’s room for improvement. Despite the fact that 60 percent of marketers continuously test and iterate their digital marketing, less than 40 percent feel they have an adequate system to track customer data and have consolidated/integrated customer data across all touchpoints. For this reason, they’re investing heavily in data analytics and martech systems.

Today, roughly one-third of all digital marketing activities are performed by external agencies. Business-to-consumer companies are most likely to use external agencies, which happens to be over 45 percent of the time.

Data Analytics Investments Skyrocket To Top Priority

Although digital marketing investments have increased across the board, data-related activities experienced the highest growth. For example, in February 2021, 56.5 percent of companies invested in data analytics. Today, that figure is 77.5 percent and includes larger companies, primarily. As data collection and purchasing becomes more complex, companies are increasing investments in efforts to analyze, store, manage and automate their data.

Current State Of Digital Marketing Practices

  • 67.2 percent of companies continuously test and iterate their digital marketing
  • 64.8 percent of marketing leaders have a good understanding of the technology roadmap and capabilities they can use to do great marketing
  • 62.1 of companies share customer information from sales, marketing, customer service and product teams across the company
  • 59 percent of companies are able to connect their digital marketing data with other intelligence they have about customers
  • 58.7 of companies have been able to link digital marketing returns to business outcomes such as incremental revenues or profits
  • 56.6 percent of marketing leaders are more collaborative with the CIO/CTO (or the equivalent technology leaders)
  • 54.1 of marketing teams have the skills and training to best use their company’s marketing systems powered by technology systems/tools

Contributions From Digital Marketing 

As expectations increase and attribution analyses evolve, perceived contributions from digital marketing have declined, according to the data. Pure-play internet companies experience the highest returns on digital marketing (5.7 out of 7) as consumer-facing companies report above-average returns (B2C product, 5.4; B2C services, 5.2). Real estate (2.8), energy (3.6) and pharma/biotech (3.9) report the weakest industry-level returns, potentially due to the planned purchase nature of their products and services.

Managing Privacy

Marketers are still concerned about third-party data. As much as 17.7 percent of marketing leaders report that they expect their companies’ use of third-party data to decrease over the next two years. The survey asked these marketers to rate their worries concerning the intersection between privacy and third-party data and found an average of a moderate 3.8 out of 7. Third-party data concerns rise dramatically as they relate to Apple offering users the option to choose which apps can access their data and Google phasing out tracking cookies on the Chrome web browser by 2023. For these reasons, marketers are being forced to learn how to extract more value from first-party data.

Just over half of marketing leaders report that protecting customer privacy falls under their job description. And over 58 percent of marketers report that their companies are taking steps to create stronger privacy strategies. Sixty-two percent of marketers believe customers will remain loyal and stay with brands as opposed to switching to others that offer more privacy protection.

Forty-five percent of marketers believe that sharing privacy notices with customers improves customers’ perception of their brand despite the fact that 95 percent of those marketers believe that customers don’t read them carefully and that over 90 percent don’t think customers comprehend the message. 

Marketers continue taking actions to ease consumers’ concerns such as promising not to sell customer information (63.1 percent), informed consent of customer data usage (58.1 percent) and investing in technology that reduces the risk of data breaches (52.2 percent).

First-Party Data

Marketers anticipate a larger increase in first-party data usage over the next two years compared to their usage of second-party data and third-party data. In August 2018, just 11.4 percent of marketers predicted a decrease in their use of third-party data. 

Today, that figure is 17.7 percent. In the wake of the changes spearheaded by Apple and Google, marketers will have to find different avenues to gather relevant user data on their own or to partner for it. As technologies evolve and allow companies to gather and interpret first-party data, CMO Survey expects this trend to continue.

Finding The Right Person, Message, And Moment With PGA TOUR Superstore’s Jill Thomas

Some people see golf as a sport for the elite, but the truth is 75% of golf courses in the U.S. are open to the public. Golf players are more diverse than ever, and brands like PGA TOUR Superstore are committed to continuing to make the sport inclusive to all.

Jill Thomas is PGA TOUR Superstore’s CMO and leads her team in modernizing their marketing strategy as their audience grows. Jill has more than 25 years of senior leadership with a consistent record of growth at some of the world’s most admired companies, including The Walt Disney Company, Cinnabon, Yum! Brands, Edible Arrangements, and PepsiCo.

In this episode, Jill and I talk about the strategies that enable brand growth, Jill’s formula for marketing nirvana, and how to reach new audiences. Later, they discuss what endears brands to us and why you need to lean into evolving technology in your marketing strategy.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Empathy enables brand growth
  • How to achieve personalization at scale
  • Right person + right message + right moment

Key Highlights

  • [01:00] Two pivotal moments in Jill’s career
  • [03:30] The importance of a good mentor
  • [08:00] Reaching new audiences with golf
  • [15:30] Marketing strategies Jill’s team used to fuel growth
  • [20:00] Connecting with audiences through storytelling and humor
  • [23:00] How motherhood has contributed to Jill’s success
  • [25:00] Jill’s advice for her younger self
  • [26:30] Achieving personalization at scale
  • [29:30] Brands worth admiring
  • [32:30] The biggest threat facing marketers

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Alan B. Hart is the creator and host of “Marketing Today with Alan Hart,” a weekly podcast where he interviews leading global marketing professionals and business leaders. Alan advises leading executives and marketing teams on brand, customer experience, innovation, and growth opportunities. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies, but he is an entrepreneur at his core, having founded or served as an executive for nine companies.