Walking into Marketing Week's Festival of Marketing last week, you might have expected the buzz to be all about AI, marketing technology and the latest trends. Those topics were certainly present, but the busiest rooms weren't exploring algorithms or data strategy; they were the sessions on marketing fundamentals, how to value marketing and how to lead and navigate the complexities of large organisations.
That contrast tells us something important. Industry headlines are dominated by new technology and emerging opportunities, but the reality for senior marketers is very different.
What really keeps CMOs awake at night isn't the next shiny object; it's the pressure to prove the value of marketing, earn credibility in the boardroom and sustain the confidence to lead through increasing complexity.
Fundamentals Trump Hype
The World Federation of Advertisers' (WFA) recent Marketer of the Future report makes one thing clear: fundamentals, not fads, are the real predictors of performance. The WFA found only 39% of under-performing companies have strong brand, strategy and creative foundations, compared with 63% of leaders who do (WFA / OxfordSM, 2025). If your strategy is weak, your customer understanding shallow and your KPIs are unclear, then investing heavily in AI or martech is simply building on sand The IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising)'s well-attended session with Les Binet and Jellyfish's Tom Roach underlined the point. Marketers have become obsessed with micro-optimisations and ‘lots of littles’, small activations that deliver short-term efficiency but rarely shift the dial. Efficiency has its place, but boards want big growth stories, not incremental savings. Many marketing teams are over-fixated on efficiency, which fuels cost-cutting, over-targeting, and reduced activation investment, all of which undermine effectiveness. Lower profits then trigger further pressure to cut costs, eroding marketing’s role in the eyes of the board. This ‘efficiency spiral’ is intensified by rising operating costs, leaving less budget for media and creative to do the heavy lifting. Evidence for marketing's impact from following fundamentals is strong. Kantar LIFT data shows that 28% of sales generated during campaigns come as the result of brand equity, and strong brands can drive a volume share nine times higher, twice the average selling price and are four times more likely to grow market share (Kantar, 2024).
CMOs must frame stories of reach, exposure and impact, and show how these translate into increased revenue and profitability. Dashboards of efficiencies may satisfy the marketing team, but it's fundamentals that convince the board.
CMOs Must Speak Fluent Finance
Marketing earns boardroom trust when expressed in financial outcomes. Speakers repeatedly warned that CMOs who persist with marketing jargon risk being sidelined. Boards aren't interested in click-through rates or engagement numbers; they want to understand how marketing reduces customer acquisition costs and increases lifetime value, margins and profits. As Traction CFO John Miller (below) put it: "Marketing earns trust when it translates into cash, margin, and growth. Speak their language, and Finance will back your brand”.
Despite its potential to drive growth, many organisations treat marketing as a cost centre rather than a strategic growth engine. Research from McKinsey highlights this growing gap: 70% of CEOs measure marketing impact based on year-over-year revenue growth and margin, whereas only 35% of CMOs track revenue and profitability as part of marketing performance. CMOs and CEOs are literally measuring success differently, leaving CMOs delivering results the board doesn't recognise or value.
To close this gap, CMOs must become bilingual leaders - fluent in the power of creativity but also confident in the financial equations that underpin shareholder returns. Metrics such as CAC and LTV must become a shared frame of reference with CFOs, shifting the narrative from 'spend' to 'investment' and from 'brand building' to 'enterprise value creation'.
Creativity only earns its seat at the boardroom table when tied directly to revenue, margin and growth. CMOs who bridge storytelling with shareholder value will not only defend budgets but also elevate marketing as a true driver of business performance.
Humility and Objectivity: The New Leadership Model
If speaking finance earns marketing credibility, humility and objectivity sustain it. Perhaps the most human insight from the festival was that the future of marketing leadership is about showing up with clarity and authenticity, not knowing every trend or tool.
The most effective CMOs strip away jargon, resist the temptation to overwhelm with data, and present the truth in a way boards can act on. Marks and Spencer Marketing Director Sharry Cramond (below) noted the importance of being a 'forensic marketer', arguing that the CMO who can admit what they don't know and ask better questions is far more effective than the one who tries to dazzle with complexity.
Boards want leaders who are candid, collaborative and commercially literate. CMOs who embody humility and objectivity build stronger coalitions internally, navigate volatility and prove that leadership in marketing is about guiding the business with clarity of thought and supporting evidence.
The Festival of Marketing was a reminder that whilst AI and trends may dominate headlines, they are not what keeps senior marketers awake at night. Those sleepless hours are spent thinking about more fundamental challenges: proving the value of marketing and developing the leadership skills to articulate it at a board level.
The businesses that win will be those where marketing stops being seen as a cost centre and starts being recognised as a growth engine. To make that shift, CMOs need discipline, evidence and, often, an external perspective, to cut through internal noise and translate marketing ambition into language the board understands.
