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CMO Realities: Economics, Changing Landscapes, and the Need for Adaptive Planning

Publisher IDC
Published Oct 14, 2025
Length 8 Pages
SKU # IDC20481059

Description

This IDC Perspective details the current realities for CMOs. The volatility of today's economy has made static annual marketing plans a liability. Inflation, tariffs, and global trade pressures are rapidly shifting market conditions, and traditional calendars cannot adjust with agility. IDC's Impacts of Economic Uncertainty on Marketing Survey shows that 6 in 10 CMOs have already moved to quarterly scenario-based planning, which signals a decisive shift toward shorter, more responsive planning cycles. Adaptive planning is no longer optional, and for CMOs who face the dual challenge of heightened competition and internal pressures for growth, this discipline provides the ability to respond quickly without losing strategic direction. Yet adaptive planning is only half of the equation of success in today's economy. With marketing dollars moving sharply toward AI, automation, and martech modernization, CMOs must ensure that automation enhances, rather than erodes, trust in customer interactions and that AI is harnessed with clear guardrails for accuracy, transparency, and accountability. CMOs today have an opportunity to bring these imperatives together — adaptive planning, responsible automation, and AI integration will together supply the power to execute the shifts in programming at scale and with measurable impact. Adaptive planning plus responsible use of automation and AI helps marketing evolve from reactive tactics to resilient performance-driven growth function."The path forward for CMOs to be orchestrators of growth means adaptive planning paired with responsible automation and AI use. That's how CMOs will turn disruption into growth," says MaryAnn Holder-Browne, research manager, CMO Advisory at IDC

Table of Contents

8 Pages

Executive Snapshot

Situation Overview

The End of Annual Planning: From Cycles to Signals and Scenarios

Rethinking Measurement

Advice for the Technology Buyer

Responsible Automation + AI Is the Key to the Future

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Related Research

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