Embracing full-funnel, multipurpose campaigns With marketing budgets averaging 8.7 percent of company revenue in 2025, CMOs are under growing pressure to drive efficient growth by reallocating spend across the entire funnel, with increased emphasis on upper-funnel investment. The central challenge lies in balancing long-term brand building with short- term performance activation elements to deliver immediate revenue impact. As this competition for resources intensifies, brands are moving away from traditional one-off campaigns (typically focused on a single funnel stage, with narrow objectives and limited channels) toward multipurpose, full-funnel activations that integrate marketing and sales. In Europe, 71 percent of CMOs report adopting such integrated campaigns in 2025, a shift of nearly 30 percentage points from prior years (Exhibit 6). These campaigns often merge brand storytelling with conversion tactics. In 2025, Coca-Cola transformed its iconic “Share a Coke” campaign into a full-funnel activation blending awareness, engagement, and conversion. Personalized bottles and cans sparked social sharing, QR codes led to interactive digital experiences, and live-streamed events with influencers drove purchases. This integrated approach seamlessly combined brand storytelling with performance tactics, turning everyday interactions into measurable engagement and sales. 18 18 “Iconic ‘Share a Coke’ is back for a new generation,” The Coca-Cola Company, March 26, 2025. Exhibit 6 Share of respondents who employed classic brand-marketing campaigns,¹ % Share of respondents who (strongly) agree with statement,² % 1 Question: Which of the following strategies and formats did you employ in 2023 and 2024 and which do you plan to use in 2025 and 2026? 2 Question: On a scale from 1 to 6, to what extent do you agree with the following statements? (1 = strongly disagree, 6 = strongly agree; 5 or 6 qualified as agree.) Source: State of Marketing Europe Report 2026, McKinsey, n = 500 senior marketing leaders across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom Multipurpose, full-funnel campaigns are replacing the traditional playbook. McKinsey & Company Brand and sales communication have become increasingly integrated at my company We build multipurpose campaigns targeting upper-, mid-, and lower-funnel KPIs together In the last 2 years (2023 and 2024) In the next 2 years (2025 and 2026) –27 percentage points 75 48 71 67 100 19 State of Marketing Europe 2026