The annual Marketing Vitality Index from the CMO Council is a new way of tracking the state of marketing using key business, economic, market, customer, operational, employment, training, outsourcing, channel, budgetary, media spend and technology investment indicators. Third-party data, curated from trusted sources and centers of domain knowledge and statistical analysis, are used to scorecard and benchmark marketing industry vitality. In addition, the CMO Council will incorporate proprietary data from its annual CMO Intentions research that includes both qualitative and quantitative research. 

This year’s Marketing Vitality Index forecasts waves of vitality, volatility and velocity. There will be growth opportunities for engaging customers and shoring up operations, and even more pressure to make MarTech and generative AI pay off. With buying behavior evolving at breakneck speeds, CMOs must get ahead or get swamped.

CMO Council’s annual Marketing Vitality Index is a new way of tracking the dynamic state of marketing using critical business, economic, market, customer, operational, employment, training, outsourcing, channel, budgetary, media spend and technology investment indicators. Key indicators of vitality stem are tracked across the following categories:

Marketing Mix + Spend

• Budget allocations (across all functional areas)
• Forecast/expectation (up, down or static)
• Digital and physical media channels
• Agencies and supply chain sources
• Channel partners and franchisees
• Geographic focus and shift

Organizational Dynamics

• Marketing workforce quality
• Hirings
• Openings
• Cutbacks
• Consolidations
• Restructurings
• Fractional/interim staffing
• Agency hiring/firing/turnover

Market Outlook + Trends

• Customer purchase intent
• Consumer confidence
• Inflationary pressures
• Transactional volumes (direct/indirect)
• Payment platform forecasts/analytics
• eCommerce sectors and segments
• Multi-channel engagement (mobile messaging, domain names, social media, email, contact enter, Internet traffic #s)

Customer Affinity + Attachment

• Brand value rankings (Brand Finance, Kantar, Interbrand)
• Customer churn, attrition, growth
• Loyalty club memberships
• Loyalty program participation
• Customer tonality & sentiment
• Social media followers, posting and messaging

Technology Adoption + Execution

• Marketing technology investments and budgets
• Application numbers, growth and uptake
• Internal deployment and usage (seats license growth)
• Training and certification commitments
• Performance and ROI measurements