Brands are rethinking its entire marketing organization for 2027. Not just where
By Melissaburdick · November 13, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
Brands are rethinking its entire marketing organization for 2027. Not just where it spends, but how it creates, measures and drives growth.
Don “eCommerce” Brett and I interviewed the experts to help formulate the latest thinking - a brand leader, an agency leader and a platform leader for The New CMO Playbook: Jay Hunter (k2o), Aisha Khan (dentsu) and Ajay Salpekar (TikTok Shop).
Different perspectives, but a consistent message: Winning in 2027 requires more than shifting budgets. It requires rethinking how we create demand, move at speed, measure impact and organize around growth.
Here are five moves CMOs should be considering as they build their 2027 plans:
1. 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱. Ajay put it best: "We just go from wasn't in the market to gotta have it." Budget for the moments before intent, then make sure you're available wherever shoppers prefer to buy. If someone discovered you tonight, could they buy you where they shop?
2. 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲. 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰. Give the program an owner, a budget and KPIs tied to business results. Ajay's warning: the brands that struggle still run creators like traditional influencers, with scripts and tight control, which works against the content that actually performs. Who owns yours?
3. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱. Brand safety shouldn't mean waiting for perfection. Aisha's take is that it's a sourcing problem, not an approval problem. Define what's off-limits, vet creators up front, then launch, learn and improve. How long does it take you to go from a good idea to a live test?
4. 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗼, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗼𝘂𝘁. A channel's value reaches past the sales it can claim for itself. Aisha recommends a broad MMM for annual planning, an agile MMM for monthly reads and SKU-level incrementality for retail media, and doesn't treat any one of them as "the holy grail." Can you see how your marketing moves sales beyond the platform where it starts?
5. 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀. 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀. At Dentsu Commerce, clients are getting more succinct and focused in their annual goals: grow market share by three basis points. Start from the business goal, then align teams, budget and measurement to it. That's the question I opened with.
It's the thinking behind our Commerce Grid at Pacvue: tie every channel to the outcome that matters instead of locking budget to a funnel stage.
Which of the five is your team furthest from right now? Tell me in the comments, I'm curious where most people land.
All five moves are in the document attached. For the full framework behind them, check out The CMO's Guide to the Future of Commerce Media (link in the comments).