Marketing budget allocation is shifting toward paid media, digital channels, and upper funnel. The size of marketing organizations is growing, but its role ‘at the C-suite table’ remains an underrepresented one. 2 3 22.6 21.6 21.9 20.7 27.9 30.6 23.8 22.4 2024 2025 20 30 25 Marketing spend allocation bð main spend tðpes, 2025 vs 2024 average spend as % of total marketing expense Paid media Martech Labor Agencies Spend focus is further shifting toward paid media ... European digital and traditional media growth,1 media owners’ net advertising revenues by channel, 2025 vs 2024, % change ... and upper funnel spend ... Change in marketing spend allocation across funnel stages, 2025 vs 2024, % of respondents Just 5% of E uropean mar k eting organi z ations decreased in si z e ... Q uestion : H ow has the si z e of y our compan y’ s mar k eting ser v ice / department e v ol v ed compared to last y ear Source : State of Mar k eting E urope R eport 2026 , Mc K inse y, n = 500 senior mar k eting leaders across F rance , G erman y, I tal y, Spain , and the U nited K ingdo B ut 3 8 % of E uropean companies don ’ t ha v e a dedicated mar k eting leader in the C- suite. Q uestion : W hat is the most senior role that is responsible for mar k eting in y our organi z ation Source : State of Mar k eting E urope R eport 2026 , Mc K inse y, n = 500 senior mar k eting leaders across F rance , G erman y, I tal y, Spain , and the U nited K ingdom 40.6 Ex pected to increase the share Ex pected to k eep share the same Ex pected to decrease the share U pper funnel 1 Mid - funnel 2 Lower funnel 3 32.8 33.4 43.8 15.6 12.6 23.4 54.6 43.2 1 F ocused on dri v ing brand awareness and familiarit y . 2F ocused on dri v ing consideration and interest. 3F ocused on dri v ing purchase / sales , con v ersion and lo y alt y . Q uestion : H ow has the distribution of y our compan y’ s mar k eting spend as a percentage (%) of net sales changed compared to last y ear across the upper , middle , and lower funnel Source : State of Mar k eting E urope R eport 2026 , Mc K inse y, n = 500 senior mar k eting leaders across F rance , G erman y, I tal y, Spain , and the U nited K ingdom N ote : F igures do not sum to 100 % , due to “O thers ” categor y not being shown in the chart. Q uestion : H ow is y our total mar k eting e x pense budget being allocated to or spent on each of the following ma j or resource categories Source : G artner C M O Sur v e y, Mar 2025 , n = 402 mar k eting leaders in E urope and N orth America ... prioriti z ing digital channels such as social , v ideo , and search. Audio Stati banners O ther digital formats T ele v ision P rint O ut - of - home C inema Search Short - form digital v ideo Social 1 I ncludes Austria , B elgium , B ulgaria , C roatia , Cz ech R epublic , D enmar k, F inland , F rance , G erman y, G reece , H ungar y, I reland , I tal y, N etherlands , N orwa y, P oland , P ortugal , R omania , Serbia , Slo v enia , Spain , Sweden , T ü r k i y e , Uk raine , and the U nited K ingdom. Source : MA G N A G lobal Ad F orecasts , June 2025. 11.0 D igital media T raditional media 8.0 7.9 5.0 3.0 2.3 – 0.3 – 0.5 – 3.7 – 5.1 12 Past forward: The modern rethinking of marketing’s core