Marketing's crisis of confidence
Anyone else ever feel embarrassed to admit they’re in marketing?
Or - like me - do you blatantly reject the word marketing and instead frame what you do with other, more palatable descriptions (brand strategy, anyone?)
I’ve been thinking about my own reticence recently. I have a Marketing degree, I’ve held Marketing Director roles, I genuinely enjoy what I do, and yet even I hear the word marketing and shudder a little.
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Part of it is the crude reality of the role. In a world that’s falling apart (climate change, Roe vs Wade, pandemic blues, the NRA, the Tory government fiasco, the need for the BLM movement, I won’t keep listing shit things but obviously I could …) getting more people to spend more money on more things doesn’t feel like the most worthy use of time. A necessary cog in the wheel of a capitalist society, but still a bit icky.
Partly it’s because marketing - a discipline that, when done well, blends art and science, instinct and rigour, agility and persistence - is very infrequently done well. Mark Ritson speaks of the ‘communification’ of marketing. Not so long ago, marketers got their hands dirty with all four of the P’s, and now they spend their energy solely on Promotion (or ‘Comms’ as it's now generally and incorrectly referred). They’re freaking out about whether they’re too late to the Metaverse or whether their TVC might get industry plaudits or how many eyeballs they’re really hitting with programmatic spend. Which is - fine - but is an exceptionally narrow view of what Marketing can and should dictate in order to really support business growth.
I feel I can say Marketers lost their way, because I did too. I’ve spent over fifteen years watching the relentless evolution of tactics, and the endless subdivision of marketing disciplines, worried I’ll never stay up-to-date with it all. But what I should have spent my energy on is consistently and efficiently nailing the problem diagnosis and subsequent laser-focused strategy for the many clients I’ve worked with. Tactics shmactics.
Finally, I wonder if a lack of empathy between agencies and their clients plays a part. I’ve loved my time working in large agencies, but one thing that always felt uncomfortable is the lofty dismissal of Marketing clients by so many people within the agency.
Sure, to my above point, some marketers don’t know what they want or why they want it. Which, from an agency perspective, makes doing effective work pretty challenging.
In the recently released ‘Better Briefs’ project (an amazing resource, courtesy of Matt Davies, Pieter-Paul von Weiler, Mark Ritson and the IPA), it is claimed that 90% of US Marketers think they’re good at writing briefs for their creative partners. Only 6% of those agencies agree. And while I have seen my fair share of terrible briefs, I don’t believe that statistically almost all of them are shit. I think these numbers may be coloured by this assumption from agencies that - if only the Marketing Manager would get out of the way, we could do much better work. There seems to be a lack of understanding of what life is like for these marketing leaders; the politics, the limited resources, the work load, the emaillllsssss. But also the role of marketing within its broader organisation. The purpose of that brief you’re dismissing is not to set you up for a Cannes Lion. It exists to solve a real business problem, a problem that creativity can help solve, but one that ultimately is (almost always) about getting more people to spend more money on more things.
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I’ve recently completed the mini MBA in Marketing, going back to my roots as it were, which is probably why I’m now all introspective. (The course was brilliant for anyone considering it btw. Don't let my personal career crisis put you off...)
I’d love to hear from others - those heading up marketing teams, or those in agencies - do you think marketing is a dirty word? Or a title you wear with pride? Are there any resources or people that have inspired you in your own understanding of what 'marketing' is and could/should be?
