How CMOs Are Killing The Zero-Based Budget

The CMO Podcast with Fexingo: Marketing Leadership, Budgets, and Executive Strategy · Oct 30, 2026 · 11m · transcript

Most marketing leaders still build their annual plans by taking last year’s spend and adding ten percent. It is a lazy habit that rewards waste and punishes innovation. This week, we look at why chief marketing officers are abandoning incremental budgeting in favor of zero-based planning for the first time since the pandemic. We break down the specific mechanics of starting from zero, how it forces hard choices on media buys versus brand campaigns, and the real friction this creates with finance teams who prefer predictable spreadsheets. If you are trying to justify every dollar spent in…