The industry’s top CMOs utilize their visibility and voice to drive their business, proving themselves indispensable to their CEOs, colleagues, teams, and boards.
Through creativity, charisma, and unrelenting work ethic, these chief marketers are setting the standard of effective leadership and paving the way for the next generation. They are the Marketing Vanguard, and we are proud to announce, as part of ADWEEK’s overall Marketing Vanguard program, the fourth annual Marketing Vanguard Awards.
We will also be honoring CEOs who graduated from CMO roles—chief executives who understand, support, and drive the marketing agenda at their companies—having had that remit previously in their careers.
In May, we will reveal and honor 15 marketing leaders at the Marketing Vanguard Summit in Chicago, who prove that they consistently do the following:
- Advocate for the marketing practice.
- Position marketing as a growth driver in the organization.
- Use their visibility and voice to grow the business.
- Can quantify the value of marketing in the organization.
Each nominee must also submit the name of a so-called next leader on their team to be featured in the final list alongside them—someone who is the CMO’s right-hand person, their ride-or-die, or their critical collaborator. Please note that entries will not be considered without this.
There is no entry fee and the deadline to submit is Friday, February 13, 2026.
Please use the nomination form below to submit your entry and contact awards@adweek.com if you have any questions or would like to request a final extension.
