CMORoom Insider

Marketing gets them in the door. The brand is what brings them back. In today’s marketing landscape, especially in the restaurant industry, there’s no such thing as a clean, linear strategy. Every decision sits at the intersection of competing priorities: immediate revenue versus long-term brand equity, performance marketing versus emotional connection, data versus instinct. For CMOs, the role has evolved far beyond campaigns and channels. It’s about stewardship, of the brand

In this conversation, David Lorango, Fractional CMO to global retail brands, shares a candid look at what it really takes to drive performance today, from navigating lower-funnel saturation to leveraging agentic AI and redefining how fashion brands build awareness. Drawing from experience across enterprise retailers and high-growth startups, he breaks down where the real opportunities lie and where many brands are still getting it wrong.