The funnel is no longer the model. The answer is the model. The category-defining question for every CMO in 2026: when a buyer asks ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity who the best brand in the category is — does the brand surface, and on what terms?
Most CMOs do not have a Reddit strategy. They have a Reddit problem. Eleven moves to build the citation moat — from assigning an owner to reporting Reddit performance directly to the CEO. The operating manual for the AI Communications era.
The short answer: not absolutely, but more than most CMOs assume. The brands with the strongest AI reputations have engineered the citation graph the engines retrieve from. The leverage points, ranked.
In an environment where AI retrieval is increasingly shaping how buyers, investors, journalists, and prospective hires form first-pass impressions, the audit most CMOs have not yet run is the one they need most. Most CMOs have never asked ChatGPT what it thinks about their own brand.
The 2026 marketing budget presents structural changes from 2024, driven by shifts in the discovery layer, cookie deprecation, and influencer marketing. This article examines the new budget composition and offers actionable steps for CMOs to navigate these changes.
Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) is experiencing a resurgence, becoming the fastest-growing measurement category in marketing. However, despite its growth and strong buyer demand, many vendors are not publicly acknowledging or claiming this trend. This creates a significant narrative gap in the industry.
Buyers now use AI engines like ChatGPT and Claude for research, bypassing traditional search and brand websites. Brands cited in AI summaries win, while invisible brands lose. This shift demands a new approach to brand discovery and communication strategies.
Average CMO tenure is under three years across Fortune 500 brands — the shortest of any C-suite role. Stanley Quencher's Terence Reilly drove $73M to $750M in three years. P&G's Marc Pritchard at 16+ years. Apple's Tor Myhren since 2016. The brands compounding marketing leadership are pulling ahead.
The marketing architect of the post-Starwood Marriott. From Disney, Yahoo!, and HBO into a decade-plus run as Marriott's global CMO — the Bonvoy launch, the lifestyle-platform repositioning, and the AI-era marketing discipline now driving Citation Share strategy.
Cannes Lions €100M+. ANA Masters CMO concentration. Advertising Week breadth. SXSW platform activations. The 6 conferences that shape the marketing category — and how the platform villages and creator-economy programming reshaped the calendar.