Introduction We are excited to present McKinsey’s State of Marketing Europe 2026 report, Past forward: The modern rethinking of marketing’s core. For this edition, we chose to adopt a wider, cross-border perspective, expanding our scope beyond Germany to take a European view. We surveyed 500 senior marketing leaders, a record for this annual report, across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom to take the pulse of their priorities and the challenges shaping today’s agendas. At the heart of this report is our annual ranking of the top 20 marketing topics by importance, enriched by deeper analysis that uncovers nuanced insights. We also include case examples and perspectives across industries from the following: At Bertelsmann Media Group, we spoke with CEO Thomas Coesfeld; at Lindt & Sprüngli, we spoke with CMO Daniel Studer and Global Head of Marketing Ricardo Azenha; at Orange, we spoke with CMO Benjamin Faveris of Orange France; and at Schneider Electric we talked with Richella Odebrecht, the senior vice president of Global Marketing for Industrial Automation. We also included insights from renowned academics, including Professor Jochen Hartmann of the Technical University of Munich. Past forward: The modern rethinking of marketing’s core captures a simple dynamic—marketing leaders are returning to mastering the basics but simultaneously advancing with utilizing modern tools. They are pairing proven growth foundations such as brand and budget rigor, for example, with interactive brand building and gen AI, taking a through-cycle view on investment to stay ahead in a highly volatile market. This shift is rooted in three themes: — Be trusted. Build strong brands as a steady anchor in turbulence. Trust building is changing; marketers are using authentic, interactive storytelling that fosters a two-way dialogue with customers to stand out and connect. — Be effective. With ongoing economic pressure, proving impact is essential. CMOs are sharpening ROI measurement to prove marketing’s value to their corporate boards and to drive continuous improvement. — Be bold. Only 6 percent of European marketing leaders are mature in using gen AI, yet they report efficiency gains of more than 20 percent, which they often reinvest in growth. Despite this, most rank it last among their priorities. We believe this is a serious undervaluation. Gen AI and agentic AI are critical levers for competitiveness, and marketers must accelerate adoption by prioritizing it, experimenting at the frontier, and scaling before global peers widen the gap. This report offers a unique opportunity to learn from Europe’s top marketing decision makers. We are confident it will give readers valuable perspectives on how this critical function continues to evolve, even as it draws on its rich history. Jesko Perrey Tjark Freundt Kai Vollhardt Victor Fabius Thomas Bauer Aurélia Bettati 4 State of Marketing Europe 2026 © Alfian Widiantono/Getty Images