Growth vs Reality: Inside the Tensions Facing APAC’s Top Marketers
APAC marketers face growing pressure to deliver results amid rising complexity, report finds the real source of CMO complexity is not only external, not a creative problem but organisational, reframing modern marketing leadership as, at its core, a decision problem.
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That tension plays out across multiple dimensions simultaneously - AI, creativity, measurement, ownership, short-term versus long-term - and in a region as vast and varied as APAC, every one of those dimensions is amplified.
The report surfaces something that many marketing leaders are already living but rarely see reflected clearly: that the complexity facing CMOs today is not simply external. It is organisational and, at its core, a decision problem.
Fragmented structures, misaligned KPIs, and unclear ownership across functions are making it increasingly difficult for senior marketers to make confident, cohesive decisions. CMOs have more data and tools at their disposal than ever before, but the challenge now is clarity. This gap in clarity widens the distance between what businesses are ambitious to achieve and what marketing leaders can realistically deliver.
What makes the report timely is the consistency of its findings. 14 senior leaders across different sectors and markets described a remarkably similar set of pressures, not as isolated trends, but as forces converging at once: the tension between short-term ROI and long-term brand value; the friction created by fragmented measurement and ownership across the business; the role of AI, which leaders broadly acknowledge improves efficiency but does not resolve how decisions are made or who is accountable for them.
Olivier Kuziner, Managing Partner APAC at Ekimetrics, said “At Ekimetrics, we believe the defining leadership challenge for modern marketing is orchestrating short-term and long-term performance together through better decision making. That belief is what drew us to this research, and what the report confirms. The CMOs we spoke to across APAC are operating in an environment where data abundance, channel fragmentation, and performance culture have accelerated decision cycles, while shrinking patience for long-term returns. The risk, and we see it consistently, is organisations mistaking efficiency for effectiveness, and optimisation for transformation. Value comes from fixing the system; the measurement frameworks, the shared definitions of success, the cross-functional alignment. This report makes that case through the voices of leaders who are working through it in real time.”
Sophie Devonshire, CEO of The Marketing Society, said “At The Marketing Society, we've long held that marketing is the key driver of growth in business. And yet, when we talk to our members across the world, we keep hearing the same thing, that the biggest tension CMOs face is bridging the gap between the business's ambition to grow and the reality of delivering that growth. That tension plays out across multiple dimensions simultaneously — AI, creativity, measurement, ownership, short-term versus long-term — and in a region as vast and varied as APAC, every one of those dimensions is amplified. We brought together 14 marketers from 13 organisations to share how they are navigating this in their daily lives. What came through clearly is that the fundamentals of marketing remain constant. What is changing, and will keep changing, is how we apply them. This report exists to help the marketing community learn how to do exactly that.”
Underlying all of it is a broader shift in what is expected of marketing, from execution to strategic growth engine. The report examines not just the tensions CMOs are navigating, but what organisations need to change: clearer decision-making and measurement frameworks, better cross-functional alignment, and a shared understanding of how marketing creates value over time.
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