Written to mark the start of the third annual IRG100 program, this founders’ perspective sets out what businesses need from marketing after COVID and challenges CMOs to take responsibility for driving more humanized growth.
The Ikigai idea is applied twice. Participants use it personally, as the sweet spot between what they love, what they are good at, what they are paid for and what the world needs. The article then applies it to the function itself.
Key findings
- Before COVID the evidence on marketing’s standing was poor. Some companies replaced the CMO with a chief growth officer, Harvard Business Review published a bundle titled the trouble with CMOs, and average CMO tenure declined again.
- IPA research found that fewer than half of all directors felt confident describing how marketing was adding value to the company.
- The IRG Growth Study found 78 percent of 2020 and 2021 respondents agreeing their business had evolved toward a more humanized growth strategy.
- Sixty-five percent of IRG100 program participants reported that their influence on business strategy had increased.
- The financial case cited is that more than 80 percent of ESG funds outperformed their benchmarks in 2020.
Declining influence, and what changed
The article opens by conceding the case against marketing as it stood before COVID. There was a lot of talk about declining reputation and receding influence. Some companies swapped the CMO for a more commercial chief growth officer. Harvard Business Review ran the trouble with CMOs, Spencer Stuart reported another fall in average tenure, and IPA research found fewer than half of directors confident describing how marketing added value.
The counter-claim is that two years changed the picture. Winning marketers increased their influence by helping their companies shift from shareholder primacy to multi-stakeholder value creation, in businesses that now understand the importance of purpose and empathy and prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion.
The specific contribution named is insight. Marketers provide a window on the world that lets a company understand stakeholder needs, such as the growing need for human connection among colleagues and the increased demand for open dialogue among community stakeholders.
How the shift built up
The article is careful that this did not begin in 2020. COVID and the social unrest following the murder of George Floyd accelerated a debate that had run since the start of the century about the role of capitalism in society.
The stalling point was investors. In 2008 Bill Gates made a plea at Davos for conscious capitalism, and while many chief executives were sympathetic, most said they could not move toward a broader definition of value creation without their investors’ blessing.
That blessing arrived in 2018 with Larry Fink’s annual CEO letter demanding that companies BlackRock invests in make a positive contribution to society. The US Business Roundtable responded almost immediately with a statement on the purpose of the corporation that moved decisively from shareholder primacy to multi-stakeholder value creation, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals became part of business language worldwide.
Why this is marketing’s job
The argument for marketing owning the problem is capability based. Understanding the needs of all stakeholders is hard, and creating value propositions that meet unmet needs across all of them is harder still. Those are the fundamental capabilities of the marketing function, which is why the founders see a unique opportunity to increase influence.
They are explicit that this is not only careerism. Today’s sustainability and social issues are described as existential, and as a call to action for marketers to help their companies succeed and do the right thing. If not now, then when.
The examples given are brands that grew while changing behavior: Dove building brand growth and women’s self-esteem, First Direct offering financial services while improving mental wellbeing, and Tide removing stains while persuading consumers to wash at 30 degrees rather than 60.
The closing case is that the disruption of the previous two years created a situation where what the world needs fully correlates with what marketers can offer, and that stepping up pays morally and financially. More than 80 percent of ESG funds beat their benchmarks in 2020, and meeting the Sustainable Development Goals is described as unlocking trillions in value and hundreds of millions of jobs within the decade.
Scope and limitations
This is a founders’ perspective, written as argument rather than as research. The two supporting figures come from IRG’s own study and its own program participants.
Source
This page summarises The Ikigai of Marketing: IRG 2022 Founders’ Perspective, by Marc de Swaan Arons, Frank van den Driest, 2022.