NIQ, the world’s leading consumer intelligence company, recently launched its annual CMO Outlook report, which highlights the evolving priorities and concerns of senior marketing leaders around the world. This year’s edition explores how marketers are navigating both headwinds and tailwinds within their strategic planning for 2025, as well as the new era for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in marketing.
Consumers continuing to face rising costs in food and utilities, coupled with the looming threat of an economic downturn, have shaped the cautious spending patterns seen within CPG and retail. In turn, AI is likely to have a major impact on long-term marketing strategies, such as promotional and brand activity, as consumers continue to search for value and savings. Yet, even with these economic challenges, there are still opportunities for marketing growth.
The report shows marketing leaders remain optimistic about the future, with 78% expecting to be in a stronger position three years from now. Within the current environment, more than half (56%) still view marketing as key to achieving immediate sales targets (down from 64% in 2023), reflecting a shift toward long-term brand building. While 60% of marketing leaders find it easy to justify marketing investments (down from 65% in 2023), there is growing confidence among CEOs and CFOs in the long-term value of brand investments (44% in 2024 vs. 41% in 2023). Marketers have also turned to AI as a critical enabler in addressing key challenges, which suggests it is set to redefine how they navigate the increasingly complex landscape ahead.
Commenting on the findings, Marta Cyhan-Bowles, NIQ’s Chief Communications Officer and Global Head of Marketing COE, said: “The future of marketing is going to be AI-led. While other aspects of CMO strategy remained stable in 2024, Generative AI (GenAI) is driving significant growth and change and is becoming a core element of the marketing mix for accelerating growth. AI can enhance the efficacy of everything we touch—from customer interaction to ideation, data collection, analysis, synthesizing insights across projects, and unlocking new opportunities.”
Top 2025 trends driving marketing decisions:
- Marketing functions are increasingly leveraging AI: Senior marketers are increasingly making GenAI central to their strategy, with 72% using it for content and creative generation, 67% for brand health measurement, 65% for media planning and optimization, and 30% for product development. GenAI is going to make deep inroads in all marketing functions, with marketers also using it to enhance customer experiences.
- AI is accelerating confidence in data usage: Data-driven insights are becoming a competitive edge for marketers, and AI usage is driving this confidence. A majority (81%) of marketers rely on data to monitor performance, with more than half (60%) of data-driven organizations being extremely confident in their data analytics capabilities. Despite this positive trend, 31% of senior marketers continue to face challenges in connecting data from different sources, highlighting the need for sophisticated AI-driven tools. AI continues to play an integral role in shaping actionable insights offering potential solutions in making marketing measurement more precise and cost effective.
- Improvement in the health of marketing function: The CMO Outlook Index, which tracks key dimensions of a marketing-centered organization, has improved marginally in 2024. The overall “health” of marketing is also on the rise—particularly in Europe, with a four-point increase in sentiments driven by improved alignment with the C-suite. AI is at the forefront of this change—and is being used for driving marketing innovation and business strategies.
- AI is closing the gap between customers and businesses by enhancing understanding of consumer preferences: AI is also driving efficiencies in long-term consumer-focused product development. NIQ’s BASES Ad Explorer helps marketers improve brand equity and offers deeper insights into consumer preferences. By leveraging AI, marketers can prioritize creative insights, test multiple ad iterations, and meet deadlines without sacrificing quality.
- Marketers to prioritize cross-departmental collaboration: Marketers are using the language of CFOs to secure investments and engage with CTOs to maximize AI’s potential. The new year will see tighter collaboration between marketing, data analysts, and business leaders for breaking down data silos and integrating diverse data sources to deliver more actionable insights.
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