Think piece

The CMO Barometer

Adapt or Die

Report from The Marketing Society

A new report by The Marketing Society in partnership with Serviceplan Group Middle East, brings together insights from senior GCC marketing leaders and will feature across our events and discussions throughout 2026.

The CMO Barometer

This is the latest Middle East edition of the annual CMO Barometer study, conducted by Serviceplan Group in partnership with The Marketing Society. The research surveyed 56 senior marketers across the MENA region in late 2025, examining attitudes towards marketing trends, challenges and capabilities heading into 2026.

Key Findings:

The report reveals three major themes for the region:

Optimism with Intent: 52% of Middle East CMOs expect their industry's economic situation to improve in 2026 (versus just 20% globally), and 43% anticipate marketing budget increases. This confidence is anchored in AI-powered, performance-driven marketing rather than vague expectations.

Culture × AI: Regional CMOs see AI as the engine of customer centricity.

Their top three AI use cases are all customer-focused: improving targeting and personalisation at scale (46%), automating repetitive tasks (39%), and creating content faster (38%). Cultural marketing scores 57% importance in the Middle East versus 38% globally, reflecting the region's young, diverse population.

Talent + AI:  Skills and talent gaps (36%) are the biggest barrier to AI adoption, not technology.

CMOs expect future teams to combine strategic and brand capabilities (79%) with AI expertise (54%), creativity (46%) and data analytics (43%).

Who Was Involved:

The study was conducted by Serviceplan Group Middle East in partnership with The Marketing Society, the University of St. Gallen (HSG), and Heidrick & Struggles.

The report features insights from prominent regional marketing leaders including:

  • George Yaryura (Mashreq)
  • Serdar Senay (Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority)
  • Munir Y. Khoja (Jameel Motorsport)
  • Chirin Khawatmi (Mumzworld.com)
  • Walid Assaad (Matbakhi)
  • Shahad Nassier (Abdul Latif Jameel)
  • Namrata Balwani (TPConnect Technologies)
  • Marc-Andre Hade (spabreaks.com)
  • Guilherme Ferreira (Cadbury)
  • Jaqueline Casini (Rolls-Royce Power Systems AG)
  • Dominique Weiss (brandinterim)

Read the full report here

 

In Partnership With

Serviceplan Middle East - Corporate

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