Businesses expect marketing to deliver. But in more than 30 years in marketing, I've seen how differently that can be interpreted: from generating leads and running campaigns to shaping strategy, understanding customers and informing commercial decisions.
I commissioned this research to find out whether that experience was reflected more widely. It explores how marketers and business leaders understand marketing's purpose, and what helps or prevents it from contributing effectively.
About the research
The research was carried out in summer 2026 and combined:
It explored what business leaders want marketing to achieve, what marketers believe it should achieve, and what each group thinks is holding it back.
Thank you to the 128 marketers and five business leaders who gave their time and perspectives to this research.
What we found
We set out to explore whether there was a gap between marketers and business leaders. Rather than a simple divide, the research revealed considerable variation in what people believe marketing is there to achieve, the role it should play and how its contribution is judged.
There's no single shared view of marketing's role
Only 3% of marketers surveyed believed leaders and marketers had a clear, shared understanding of marketing's role. A further 82% perceived at least some differences between them.
Commercial outcomes matter but aren't yet agreed
Just over half referred to commercial outcomes when defining marketing success. More than a third (36%) said marketing wasn't involved in identifying and driving commercial opportunities.
Strategic involvement was more common where marketing succeeded
Where marketing was rated very successful, all ten said it was involved in identifying and driving commercial growth, compared with 56% where it was rated not very successful.
These are just a sample of the findings. The full report covers them all.
Download the reportMarketing is the only function that is like football: everyone thinks they can have an opinion.
So what is the marketing point?
At its heart, marketing's purpose is simple: to help the business succeed. Yet there's no single version of what that means. What marketing needs to contribute varies with the business, its customers and what it's trying to achieve.
At its most successful, marketing doesn't deliver a predetermined set of activities. It works as an integral part of the business: understanding its priorities, bringing customer and market insight into its decisions, and turning that into the strategy and activity most likely to make a difference.
What's in the full report
- What the findings mean for SMEs, and how to put them into practice
- The full findings, with charts and commentary
- Perspectives from business leaders and marketers in their own words
- Why AI doesn't answer the more fundamental question of what marketing is for
For business leaders
The research points to one clear starting point: agree what the business needs from marketing before deciding what marketing needs to achieve. That's exactly what the Marketing Direction Diagnostic is designed to do.
For marketers
If your leadership team sees marketing differently from you, this report is a starting point for that conversation. Share it with them.
Download the report
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What does this mean for your business?
If these findings reflect what you're seeing in your own business, let's talk about what marketing should be doing for you.
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