POV

What CMA Marketing Week Got Me Thinking About

By: Marc Cooper, CM

Last week I attended CMA Marketing Week, and I’ve been thinking about it more than I expected.

The sessions covered a lot of ground. Retail media, Gen Z, AI, Canadian identity, personalization, the changing CMO role. On paper those sound like separate conversations. In the room, they felt much more connected.

Marketing needs to make its case in business terms

One of the strongest moments of the week was the release of new research showing marketing’s contribution to the Canadian economy. $131 billion in GDP and one in every 25 jobs. That’s a number worth using.

For years, marketing has had to defend itself as a cost centre. The data says otherwise. But the data only works if you present it in the language of the room you’re in. If you’re speaking to a CFO, campaign metrics aren’t enough. Connect the work to operating income, margin, growth, and competitive position. The numbers are there. The opportunity is to use them better.

We are still too comfortable measuring what is easy

Speakers also touched on the gap between what dashboards report and what’s actually driving business outcomes. Attribution models are useful, but they’re not reality. Short-term performance can look strong while brand equity is being quietly drained.

The distinction worth holding onto is capturing existing demand versus creating it. Both matter. But if all we do is capture existing intent, we’re living off work that was done earlier. At some point, someone has to plant the next crop.

That argument rarely wins the quarterly review. Make it anyway.

Attention is earned by having something to say

Whether the conversation was about Gen Z, Canadian consumers, content, or AI, the attention problem was the same. People are not waiting around for more brand messages. Their attention is already full.

The brands that break through are not necessarily the loudest. They’re the ones with a point of view and the confidence to commit to it.

AI came up often, as expected. So did the concern around AI slop: content that is technically produced but has no real reason to exist. The volume AI makes possible is not the same as having something worth saying. Lead with the human voice and let AI assist, not the other way around.

A note on how this was written. I used AI to help organize and draft these thoughts from my notes. The observations and opinions are mine. Not every phrase is. Sometimes AI helps me make a point in fewer words, and when you want people to make it to the end of an article, that matters.

Canadian context matters more than usual right now

Another session that stood out focused on Canadian consumers and how they are feeling right now. The research pointed to something many of us are already sensing. Canadians are dealing with real financial pressure, but also a renewed sense of national identity. More pride, more scrutiny, and a sharper awareness of how Canada defines itself, particularly against what’s happening south of the border.

Aspiration still works. It just has to feel like it was written for the Canada people are actually living in right now.

The question I kept hearing

Across all of it, one question kept surfacing for me. What do we actually want someone to do next?

That sounds simple, but it’s where a lot of marketing gets fuzzy. A good idea is not enough. A strong channel plan is not enough. The work has to connect an audience, a moment, a message, and an action. Sometimes that action is immediate. Sometimes it’s the slow work of building trust and familiarity. But there still needs to be intent behind it.

I left thinking less about how much marketing is changing and more about how much it still requires. The discipline to say something true, to the right person, in a way that leads somewhere.

If your team is wrestling with those questions, whether around measurement, creative strategy, or how campaigns convert interest into meaningful action, I’m always happy to talk about what comes next.

Marc Cooper, CM