Gain Theory Launches Creative Effectiveness CMO Study: 62% Struggle to Prove the Value of Their Creative
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Gain Theory’s latest global study of Fortune 500 CMOs reveals that nearly half (49%) cannot confidently justify creative spend to the C-suite, and only 36% apply the same rigor to measuring creative as media.
June 30, 2026.
Global marketing effectiveness and foresight consultancy Gain Theory has published a new report,‘Creative Effectiveness Decoded: The Global CMO Survey’ – a global study of senior marketing leaders from Fortune 500 brands. It reveals that despite widespread confidence in creative performance, most marketing leaders lack the measurement rigor to know whether their creative is truly working.
On the surface, the mood is bullish. 89% of respondents say their creative has been effective or very effective over the last 12 months, 65% rate their ability to measure creative as advanced or very advanced and 63% are confident their approach accurately captures the impact creative has on key business goals.
Beneath that high confidence, however, lies a more complicated reality. 81% of marketing leaders state that creative and media are equally important to business impact, yet only 36% apply the same measurement rigor to both. Nearly four in five (80%) rely on media metrics such as reach and impressions to evaluate creative effectiveness; proxies that don’t show whether creative is driving sales. Almost two-thirds (62%) acknowledge they are investing in media to deliver creative whose true value is unknown to them.
Half (49%) of respondents aren’t confident that they have the data-informed evidence to defend or grow a creative budget with their Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or other finance leaders. One in four (25%) state that their creative budget was reduced in the last 12 to 24 months because they couldn’t make a data-informed business case.
Measurement barriers include inadequate data (68%) and a lack of tools and technology (56%). AI is starting to address these challenges with 87% of respondents using or piloting AI for creative production, and more than half (56%) are using or piloting it for creative effectiveness measurement, a gap that is expected to close.
Measurement Confidence Lags in North America
North American marketers report lower confidence in their measurement capability (60% say it’s advanced vs 70%in the rest of the world) are more reliant on legacy approaches like copy/pre-testing (64% vs 42%), and are less likely to cite human and cultural barriers (31% vs 50%).
The new survey builds on Gain Theory’s landmark 2025 Creative Effectiveness Decoded report, which revealed that 50–70% of a campaign’s sales uplift can be attributed to creativity, yet most brands still lack the analytical rigor to measure and optimize it.
The new report ‘Creative Effectiveness Decoded: The Global CMO Survey’ is available here.
"For too long, advertising creative has remained a comparative blind spot, while media buying has been subjected to intense scrutiny and sophisticated analytical models. Our research shows marketing leaders feel good about their creative, but can’t prove it’s working, and CFOs are starting to notice. At the end of the day, If you can’t measure it, you can’t defend it. Closing that gap is now the single biggest opportunity in marketing measurement,"
Russell Nuzzo
Global Head of New Media Measurement, Gain Theory
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Gain Theory is a global marketing effectiveness and foresight consultancy. It helps brands realize unmatched value and maximize the return on their marketing investments by providing data-driven insights and strategic recommendations across marketing measurement, optimization, and strategy. Gain Theory combines advanced analytics, proprietary technology, and deep industry expertise to empower clients with the confidence to make smarter decisions and achieve sustained growth.
Gain Theory has been named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Marketing Measurement And Optimization Services, Q1 2026. Forrester’s report noted: “Gain Theory’s distinctive vision is to empower brands to realize unmatched, quantified value from marketing and broader business insights.”
Russell NuzzoGlobal Head of New Media Measurement, Gain Theory