I’ve spent 30 years navigating the turbulent waters of what was once called “internet marketing” and is now called “digital marketing.”
Based on my experience, the past year has been nothing short of a perfect storm for chief marketing officers (CMOs).
As the Director of Corporate Communications for Ziff-Davis, I helped to launch Yahoo! Europe in 1996. We faced several key challenges as the joint venture began offering customized versions of Yahoo!’s leading “Internet guide” in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
We had to overcome language, cultural, operational, and competitive hurdles to succeed in a rapidly evolving digital landscape with “annual growth rates in excess of 80%.”
Four years later, I was the VP of Marketing of WebCT when the dot-com bubble burst on March 10, 2000.
A month earlier, the board of directors had asked me why we had not joined the other 14 dot-com companies that spent $2.2 million to run a 30-second spot during Super Bowl XXXIV.
A month later, the board told me to cut my marketing budget in half. (So, our strategic goal flipped overnight from lighting our money on fire to slowing our burn rate.)
Yet, even with that backdrop, the confluence of challenges CMOs have faced in the last twelve months is unprecedented.
Let’s analyze why this current period has been particularly grueling and evaluate some critical data, market trends, strategic insights, fresh examples, and tactical advice for navigating these unusually rough seas.
A Perfect Storm Of Challenges
We are witnessing a surprising mix of factors:
Changing Consumer Behavior
The COVID-19 pandemic permanently reshaped consumer behaviors and preferences.
CMOs have had to rapidly adapt to increased demand for digital engagement, personalized experiences, and a heightened focus on sustainability.
Understanding and responding to these evolving expectations is paramount for maintaining brand loyalty.
Increased Competition
The digital marketing environment is more turbulent than ever, with brands fiercely competing for consumer attention across numerous channels.
CMOs are tasked with differentiating their brands in a saturated market, which necessitates innovative strategies and truly creative campaigns to stand out.
Rapid Technological Advancements
The pace of technological change continues to accelerate, with new tools and platforms emerging at a dizzying rate.
CMOs are not only expected to stay on top of these developments but also to seamlessly integrate advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and data analytics into their strategies, all while ensuring their teams are proficient in using them.
Economic Uncertainty
Global economic fluctuations, marked by inflation and supply chain disruptions, have forced CMOs to operate with tighter budgets and contend with shifting consumer spending habits.
This volatility makes forecasting marketing return on investment (ROI) and allocating resources effectively incredibly difficult.
Measurement And Accountability
As marketing becomes increasingly data-driven, CMOs face intense pressure to demonstrate the effectiveness of their strategies.
Establishing clear metrics and accountability for marketing performance is essential, yet it remains challenging in such a rapidly changing environment.
Navigating A Perfect Storm
This powerful combination of negative circumstances leads to a significantly worse outcome than if those circumstances had occurred separately. This explains why the role of the CMO has never been more complex, nor more critical.
But, how does a CMO successfully navigate a perfect storm?
In this maelstrom, Google is often seen as both a catalyst for these challenges and a beacon for solutions. So, CMOs may turn to “Think with Google,” which was recently updated to provide the equivalent of a nautical chart of “marketing in the AI era.”
The redesigned Think with Google has organized its content into five critical categories: Consumer Insights, Search & Video, AI Excellence, Future of Marketing, and Measurement.
These can provide a strategic framework for CMOs to not only weather the current turbulence but to emerge stronger, more agile, and more effective.
1. Consumer Insights: Marketing To The Predictably Unpredictable Customer
In an age of endless choice and constant connectivity, the consumer journey is anything but linear.
Understanding the “predictably unpredictable” customer is paramount. This means moving beyond demographic segmentation to truly grasp intent, context, and micro-moments.
Critical Data: New research indicates video plays a vital role in the shopping journey, especially on YouTube, where consumers seek in-depth information and trusted creator recommendations.
YouTube influences various shopping behaviors, from “rookie” to “quest for the best,” and can shorten the purchasing journey.
Shoppers turn to YouTube for product reviews and information more than other social platforms, leading to increased purchase confidence.
Market Trends: Social media drives brand awareness, but trusted recommendations boost conversions. According to a recent Traackr survey, YouTube is a top platform for product reviews.
Shoppers are increasingly relying on content from creators and honest product reviews to make their buying choices, which has, on average, cut six days off their purchasing journey, according to a Google/Material survey.
Strategic Insight: The modern consumer expects hyper-personalization without sacrificing privacy.
CMOs must build deep empathy for their audience, anticipating needs before they are explicitly stated and delivering value at every touchpoint. This requires a shift from broad-stroke campaigns to highly individualized experiences.
Fresh Example: Sephora expanded its holiday social media campaigns by collaborating with seven creators on a Shorts-only Demand Gen campaign that featured timely gift guides.
This strategy significantly increased traffic to Sephora.com, leading to an 82% rise in “Sephora holiday” searches and top-tier brand awareness.
Tactical Advice:
- Invest in First-Party Data Strategies: As third-party cookies deprecate, building robust first-party data collection mechanisms becomes non-negotiable. This includes loyalty programs, direct customer interactions, and consent-driven data capture.
- Map the Non-Linear Journey: Utilize analytics to understand the actual paths customers take, identifying key decision points and moments of influence, rather than relying on outdated funnel models.
- Embrace Empathy-Driven Content: Create content that directly addresses customer pain points, aspirations, and questions, rather than simply pushing products.
- Conduct Market and Audience Research: Both are crucial for understanding a business’s potential and success, but they differ in scope and focus. Market research explores the overall market landscape, while audience research delves into the specific characteristics and behaviors of a target group.
2. Search & Video: Meeting Customers Where They’re Searching, Streaming, Scrolling, And Shopping
Search and video are no longer distinct channels but intertwined ecosystems where consumers search, stream, scroll, and shop.
So, you must “influence audiences in all the places they go to consume content about your topic,” as Rand Fishkin says.
Critical Data: New research from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) indicates that four key consumer behaviors (streaming, scrolling, searching, and shopping) have fundamentally changed how consumers find and interact with brands.
For CMOs, it is crucial to understand each of these “4S behaviors” and adjust their marketing strategies accordingly to effectively reach, connect with, and ultimately sell to their target audiences.
Market Trends: The increasing prevalence of the “4S behaviors” creates an opportunity and a threat for CMOs.
While these behaviors make the consumer’s path to purchase more unpredictable and difficult to track, they also open new doors for brands to connect with, influence, and convert potential customers.
Strategic Insight: Visibility and discoverability are paramount. CMOs must ensure their brands are present and compelling across all forms of search and video consumption, anticipating evolving user behaviors, including voice and visual queries.
Fresh Example:Rare Beauty, founded by Selena Gomez, used AI-powered advertising to connect with Gen Z and drive business growth.
It leveraged Google AI with YouTube and Search strategies to deliver relevant messages, leading to a 7X return on ad spend as well as increased traffic and conversions through their own site and Sephora.com.
Tactical Advice:
- Optimize for Generative AI in Search: Understand how AI-powered summaries and answers will impact organic visibility. Focus on providing comprehensive, authoritative content that AI models can readily synthesize.
- Adopt “Search Everywhere Optimization”: Optimize content not just for text-based queries but also for voice search (conversational language, long-tail keywords) and visual search (high-quality images, structured data).
- Master YouTube SEO and Strategy: As I outlined before, YouTube is a powerhouse. Focus on strong titles, descriptions, tags, and compelling thumbnails. Prioritize audience retention and engagement signals.
- Embrace Shoppable Video: Integrate ecommerce directly into video content, allowing seamless transitions from viewing to purchasing.
3. AI Excellence: Transform Your Marketing With AI And Boost ROI
Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept; it is a present-day imperative for marketing transformation.
From automating routine tasks to powering hyper-personalization and predictive analytics, AI is reshaping every facet of the marketing function.
Critical Data: A recent report on AI in the Workplace by McKinsey Digital found:
“Almost all companies invest in AI, but just 1 percent believe they are at maturity. Our research finds the biggest barrier to scaling is not employees – who are ready – but leaders, who are not steering fast enough.”
Market Trends: The democratization of generative AI tools is making sophisticated AI capabilities accessible to more marketers. The focus is shifting from simply using AI to mastering AI for strategic advantage.
As I suggested previously, AI should be integrated into a continuous improvement loop, where insights from AI inform strategy, leading to better execution and further data collection.
Strategic Insight: CMOs must view AI not as a replacement for human creativity but as an indispensable co-pilot.
The strategic adoption of AI can unlock unprecedented efficiencies, enhance decision-making, and significantly boost return on investment.
Fresh Example: Jill Cress, H&R Block’s CMO, has increased AI-powered marketing tool usage by 24% by focusing on empathy and education.
Her strategy aligns AI with brand values like expertise and empathy, leading to innovations like AI Tax Assist and localized marketing efforts. This human-centered approach provides a model for AI leadership.
Tactical Advice:
- Automate Mundane Tasks: Use AI for tasks like ad copy generation, email subject line optimization, social media scheduling, and basic content creation to free up human marketers for strategic work.
- Personalization at Scale: Deploy AI-powered tools for dynamic content delivery, personalized product recommendations, and adaptive website experiences based on real-time user behavior.
- Predictive Analytics for Campaign Optimization: Leverage AI to forecast campaign performance, identify optimal audience segments, and predict customer churn, allowing for proactive adjustments.
- Ethical AI Implementation: Establish clear guidelines for AI usage, ensuring fairness, transparency, and data privacy.
4. Future Of Marketing: Lead The Charge With The Latest Innovations And Ideas
This section of the overhauled Think with Google resource for marketers, advertisers, and creatives provides the least helpful content to CMOs in an unexpected mix of events.
Why? Because articles by “Guest Thinkers” on topics like “3 strategies for navigating your marketing career to become a CMO” are worth reading.
But in a crisis, advice for how to grow your career in marketing to become a CMO is the first thing that current CMOs will toss overboard to lighten the ship.
In a crisis, time can seem to speed up. So, the perception of the “Future of Marketing” alters from 4.3 years (which is the average tenure of CMOs, according to Spencer Stuart) to 4.3 months, which is when CMOs who don’t successfully navigate economic uncertainty are likely to exit their roles.
Unfortunately for them, the most recent article from Think with Google that addresses economic uncertainty was published in 2022.
This article analyzed how economic uncertainty impacts consumer behavior and spending intentions. It also discussed how businesses need to build trust with customers in an uncertain market.
Two days later, OpenAI released ChatGPT on Nov. 30, 2022.
In November 2023, when Think with Google in Europe, Middle East & Africa published their predictions for 2024, the focus shifted to “growth” – even though economic uncertainty was predicted to continue.
Since then, the topic of economic uncertainty has only popped up in a Think with Google UK article in 2025. But it appears that Think with Google is avoiding this topic in the U.S.
So, what should CMOs in the US do?
The Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) Index is a good source of critical data about economic uncertainty.
But, the best source is proprietary market research, which enables a CMO to understand changing customer needs, identify new opportunities, and make informed decisions, helping them adapt and thrive in a challenging market.
In the U.S., eMarketer offers a comprehensive suite of resources, including advertising and marketing research as well as a toolkit on “Navigating Uncertainty in 2025.”
In the U.K., the IPA Bellwether Report has found marketing budgets often decrease during economic downturns, like the 2008 financial crash and the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, showing that the willingness of British businesses to invest in their brands is closely tied to the economic climate.
Strategic Insight: Agility and a willingness to experiment are the hallmarks of future-ready marketing leaders. This involves fostering a culture of continuous learning and embracing technologies that redefine customer engagement.
Equivalent Examples: CMOs should read Tim Ringel’s article in Fast Company, where he says:
“We constantly live in uncertain times. Periods of tranquility are actually an aberration, if not an illusion.”
He adds:
“Rougher waters don’t sink all boats.”
Although his examples are from the Great Recession of 2008 and the COVID-10 pandemic of 2020, they offer “four strategic approaches for the uncertainty-conscious marketer.”
Tactical Advice:
- Hire an Economist or Chief Economist: Susan Athey and Michael Luca of the Harvard Business Review have explained “Why Tech Companies Hire So Many Economists.” And Lydia DePillis of The Washington Post declared some time ago that “Chief economists are the new marketers.” More CMOs should hire an economist to be their “Analysis Ninja.”
- Build Agile Marketing Teams: Structure teams to be cross-functional and adaptable, capable of rapid iteration and quick pivots in response to market shifts.
- Assemble All Hands on Deck: According to Spencer Stuart, 16% of Fortune 500 marketing leaders have marketing plus another function in their title (such as chief marketing and communications officer). If this function does not report to the CMO or SVP of marketing yet, then include Communications in all-hands meetings to ensure everyone is working towards a shared purpose.
- Invest in Continuous Learning: Encourage teams to stay abreast of the latest technological advancements and marketing methodologies.
5. Measurement: Build Business Advantage With Your Data
In an increasingly data-rich environment, the ability to effectively measure marketing performance and translate data into actionable insights is the ultimate competitive advantage.
Without robust measurement, CMOs are just using dead reckoning.
Critical Data: Earlier this year, I asked, Where are the missing data holes? Back then, 67.9% of users of the Google Merchandise Store over the previous 28 days had arrived from the direct channel, according to the GA4 demo account.
Today, 77.6% of users are arriving “direct,” which means GA4 cannot determine the specific referral source of more than three out of four visitors.
Market Trends: This month, I asked, why CMOs need to rethink attribution. I also said they should conduct brand lift studies and audience research to successfully navigate the reduced visibility that is a significant consequence of a perfect storm.
Strategic Insight: CMOs should read Avinash Kaushik’s article in The Marketing < > Analytics Intersect Newsletter. He advises shifting from activity-based marketing metrics to profit-driven outcomes like “Profit On Investment” (POI).
This innovative approach protects CMOs and secures budgets by demonstrating true business value. Kaushik also recommends cutting underperforming campaigns and retraining teams to achieve positive POI, stressing the importance of profitability even with AI Search.
Fresh Example: Lululemon used an AI-powered playbook to boost its performance marketing. This involved restructuring shopping campaigns, building a new customer acquisition engine, and strengthening measurement foundations.
The strategy led to reduced customer acquisition costs, increased new customer revenue, and an 8% boost in return on ad spend (ROAS).
Tactical Advice:
- Implement Robust Attribution Models: Move beyond last-click attribution to multi-touch attribution models that give credit to all touchpoints in the customer journey, providing a more accurate picture of ROI.
- Data Governance and Quality: Establish clear processes for data collection, cleaning, and storage to ensure accuracy and compliance with privacy regulations.
- Integrate Data Silos: Break down departmental silos to create a unified view of customer interactions across marketing, sales, and service. This often involves Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) or robust data warehousing solutions.
- Focus on Business Outcomes, Not Just Marketing Metrics: Connect marketing efforts directly to revenue, customer lifetime value, and market share, demonstrating clear business impact to the C-suite.
Conclusion: Thriving In The New Marketing Era
The digital marketing environment is indeed a perfect storm, but it is also brimming with unprecedented opportunities for those CMOs willing to adapt, innovate, and lead.
The redesigned Think with Google offers a framework to circumnavigate these challenges, even if the “Future of Marketing” team needs to recalibrate their time horizon, revise their editorial calendar, and refresh their helpful content on the topic of economic uncertainty.
By deeply understanding the predictably unpredictable customer, mastering the dynamic search and video ecosystem, embracing AI as a strategic partner, proactively exploring the future of marketing, and building a robust, data-driven measurement infrastructure, CMOs can transform their marketing organizations.
The future belongs to the agile, the data-informed, and the customer-obsessed.
By focusing on these strategic categories, CMOs can not only weather the storm but steer their brands towards unprecedented growth and sustained competitive advantage.
More Resources:
Featured Image: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock
