New Zeno Group Research Finds Growth Has a Reputation Problem—and CMOs Can’t Solve It Alone
06/23/26
Growth is no longer shaped primarily by advertising, marketing spend or customer acquisition. According to new research from Zeno Group, senior marketing leaders increasingly believe reputation, trust and earned influence play a critical role in business performance alongside creativity. Yet organizational structures and overall remits are proving to be barriers toward managing this evolution.
Expectations of marketing leadership are changing with nearly three-quarters of respondents (73%) saying cross-functional influence will be critical to future success. This reflects a growing need for leaders to build shared accountability across functions and stakeholders.
Clarity 2030: Growth Has a Reputation Problem - How Marketing and Comms Can Solve It Together uncovers the new ways in which senior marketing leaders view reputation, influence and organizational leadership. Building on Zeno Group’s prior Clarity 2030 research on the evolution of communications as a driver of strategic growth, this study similarly reveals that both CMOs and CCOs are being asked to lead broader, more interconnected mandates without the structures, resources or decision-making models needed to support them.
Based on a survey of 100 U.S. Chief Marketing Officers, Chief Growth Officers and Chief Brand Officers, the findings point to a new opportunity for marketing and comms leaders to move beyond alignment toward co-ownership of business growth, with reputation increasingly serving as a driver of performance rather than simply a measure of it. The research portrays a critical tension: while reputation is increasingly recognized as essential to business success, it still does not consistently factor into marketing decisions.
“Our research points to a fundamental shift in how growth is created. Marketing leaders increasingly recognize that reputation is not simply an outcome of business performance, it is an input to it. At the same time, creativity is taking on a new role. The ideas that earn attention, generate conversation and shape culture are also shaping reputation, influencing AI-driven discovery and driving business growth. The opportunity for marketing and communications leaders is not simply to align around campaigns, but to co-own closing the gap between reputation and revenue to create lasting enterprise value,” said Barby K. Siegel, global CEO, Zeno Group.
CLOSING THE GAPS BETWEEN WHAT MARKETERS BELIEVE AND HOW ORGANIZATIONS BEHAVE
Marketing and Communications Are Closer Than Ever—But True Strategic Partnership Is Still Elusive
92% of organizations have marketing and communications connected through integration or shared leadership, yet only 43% of marketing leaders view communications as an ongoing strategic partner in shaping reputation. Only 28% say they are highly willing to allow communications to lead a major campaign, underscoring the ongoing perception gap between the two functions.
Reputation Has Moved Into the Growth Conversation, Yet Its Importance Is Still Not Fully Realized
The study found that 82% of marketing leaders say reputation plays a larger role in growth decisions, moving from a communications outcome to a business input. Yet many organizations still fail to invest in it commensurately with its business value. Marketing leaders most often evaluate reputational issues through their impact on sales, revenue and customer response, while factors such as employee sentiment, investor reaction and geopolitical context receive far less attention.
AI Is Shifting the Challenge from Visibility to Interpretation
As AI increasingly becomes a gateway to information, being found is no longer enough.
While 77% of marketing leaders say marketing owns AI discoverability, more than half are not significantly concerned about AI misrepresenting their brand. At the same time, 83% believe earned media is more influential than paid media in shaping AI-generated answers, yet fewer than half plan to increase investment in earned media.
The findings suggest a growing disconnect between what marketers believe shapes influence and where they invest resources.
The Future CMO Will Need Influence More Than Control
The research found that 92% of marketing leaders expect the CMO role to be broader, substantially different or fundamentally redefined by 2030, yet only 11% feel fully ready for that future.
As drivers of business performance become more distributed across organizations, nearly three-quarters of marketing leaders (73%) say cross-functional influence will be critical to future success. The findings suggest the future CMO will succeed less through control of functions and more through influence across them.
About the Research
Clarity 2030 is Zeno Group's ongoing research platform exploring the forces shaping the future of communications, marketing, reputation and business growth. The latest study, fielded May 14–26, 2026, surveyed 100 senior U.S. marketing leaders—including Chief Marketing Officers, Chief Growth Officers and Chief Brand Officers—to understand how AI, reputation, discoverability, their relationships with the CCO, and evolving stakeholder expectations are reshaping the growth agenda through 2030.