Angst!

I’ve never seen so much angst in marketing as there is right now!

Having had several rich, unfiltered conversations with other marketing leaders in the past few weeks a few things really stuck with me.

Marketing is having an identity crisis. Are we growth drivers? Brand builders? Revenue enablers?

We debate this more than any other function. Instead of obsessing over internal definitions, we should obsess over customers.

And when it comes to reaching new customers, we’re so caught up in contemplating our own navels, we ignore the way WE actually buy - through referrals, networks, and recommendations. And yet, many marketing teams are still chasing attribution models that rely on outdated touchpoints when most real influence happens in “dark social” and trusted peer networks.

Imagine flipping your new logo strategy to focus entirely on turning happy customers into referral engines. Connect them to prospects at events, put them front and centre in your brand campaigns, make them the heroes of your website.

And, no, AI is not the enemy - slow, expensive marketing is. I’ve used it to create campaigns, analyse customer transcripts, build ICPs, and generate Share of Voice insights. AI lets me spend less time formatting and more time thinking.

So enough with the angst! Let’s stop debating what marketing is and start showing what marketing does - by putting customers at the centre, embracing AI as a force multiplier, and driving real impact where it counts.

Time to lead with confidence.