For CMOs, 2025 will be a year of opportunities and challenges. As inflation and interest rates stabilize post-election, CEOs will be hungry for growth. However, spending trends are signaling less budget for marketing. In an environment of declining marketing budgets, CMOs must prioritize productivity and recalibrate spending commitments. 

Welcome to the Era of Less.      

The era of less – that’s how Gartner framed the current marketing landscape in its 2024 CMO spending survey. While CEOs are demanding growth, marketing budgets are still behind pre-pandemic levels. The average marketing budget during the four years before the pandemic was 11% of company revenue. Post pandemic, marketing budgets are trending down. In 2024, marketing’s share of revenue has fallen by 15%, to 7.7% of revenue.  

With growth harder to come by and stiff economic winds ahead, how do CMOs orchestrate growth in this era of less? Too often, marketers try to stimulate sales with myopic, brand-eroding tactics – discounting, promotional messaging or a heavy dose of lower-funnel marketing activities. In this case, sales come at the expense of the brand. However, with the right decisions, sales and brand experience can grow in concert.  

At Hart, our brand transformation model is designed to help marketers do more with less by leveraging two under-utilized assets: customer experience and employee experience. There is a growing body of research that proves CX and EX have very tangible effects on financial performance. Some interesting findings include: 

• A consistent employee experience results in a 2x higher rating of financial performance

• Companies with high CX and EX versus low CX and EX saw 1.8x faster revenue growth 

• A shift in employee experience would result in a 45% increase in profits per person-hour, from $41 to $59

To capture gains in the “do more with less” reality, brands should adopt a holistic experience-led, go-to-market strategy. At Hart, we believe delivering exceptional brand experiences results from the compounding effect of deploying inspiring employee experiences and rewarding customer experiences. 

Ready to maximize ROI in the era of less? Schedule a consultation with Hart today. Let's transform your brand strategy to do more with less.