introduction of GDPR in 2018. 3 For marketing decision-makers, ensuring data privacy is not just about compliance—it is a critical cornerstone to avoid loss of trust and other damage to a carefully developed brand as customers increasingly abandon relationships with non-compliant companies. For example, one study of data breaches between 2012 and 2022 showed a subsequent average loss in market capitalization of $1.9 billion (around 1.3 percent). 4 — Authenticity (#4) is a genuine expression of a brand’s values, mission, and identity through transparency and consistency that builds emotional resonance. Bottega Veneta’s “Craft is our Language” illustrates the point: rather than celebrity-led work, the campaign shines a light on craft and the people behind it (for example, writers and designers), with subtle logos rather than loud slogans. 5 — Employer branding (#5) remains a priority and mirrors the broader shift toward authenticity. Today’s job seekers look for meaningful insights into what a company truly stands for: 83 percent of candidates read company reviews before applying for a job and higher online employer ratings significantly boost employer attractiveness. 6 In particular, Gen Z (roughly born between 1997 and 2012) places greater value on authenticity, culture, flexibility, and purpose than on salary alone. 7 Leading companies are moving beyond slogans to genuine storytelling and building employee advocacy. Theme 2: Be effective Despite concerns that marketing budgets could come under pressure due to company-wide cost- cutting programs, Europe’s marketing decision-makers are signaling optimism. A significant 72 percent plan to increase their budgets (compared to 49 percent who actually did so last year, relative to sales), while 27 percent intend to keep budgets constant (versus 49 percent last year). This reflects a belief in the potential for future growth in Europe. However, this optimism comes with rising pressure from the board, as CMOs are increasingly challenged to demonstrate the value of marketing spend and operate more efficiently. Notably, five of the ten topics cited in our survey as most important by Europe’s marketing executives center around proving and enhancing marketing’s contribution to business outcomes, and can be further broken down into two areas: — The interconnected topics of demonstrating the value of marketing through budget management (#2: sizing, allocating, and controlling marketing spend) and ROI measurement (#6: measuring, steering, and maximizing return of marketing activities) not only score high on importance, but the need to act. We see CMOs increasingly focused on ensuring every marketing dollar delivers measurable impact through smarter budget allocation and rigorous ROI tracking. Demonstrating marketing’s contribution via robust ROI calculations is essential to create credibility across the C-suite, justifying budgets, and unlocking future growth opportunities. This works particularly well if there is a clear link to the metrics that the company is targeting overall. For example, a CFO and CMO could use the output of marketing mix modeling (an analytical tool to comprehensively evaluate media effectiveness) for joint budget and planning decisions. 8 3 “The general data protection regulation,” Council of the European Union, June 13, 2024. 4 Daniel Celeny et al., “Prioritizing investments in cybersecurity: Empirical evidence from an event study on the determinants of cyberattack costs,” SSRN working paper, February 2024. 5 “Craft is our Language,” Bottega Veneta, March 2024. 6 “The essential employer branding statistics you need to know,” Glassdoor, July 21, 2025; Haitian Xie et al., Employer reputation and the labor market: Evidence from glassdoor.com and dice.com , working paper, May 2023. 7 “What is Gen Z?,” McKinsey, August 28, 2024. 8 Aurélia Bettati, Jeff Jacobs, Kelsey Robinson, and Robert Tas, “The CMO’s comeback: Aligning the C-suite to drive customer-centric growth,” McKinsey, June 16, 2025. 7 Past forward: The modern rethinking of marketing’s core