I’ve seen a lot of them many years ago, I’ve seen some last year, and I just crossed paths with one last month. I’ve seen it too many times—CEOs treating marketing as nothing but an evil, a cost centre or an unnecessary expense which needs to be minimised to zero if possible rather than using it as a weapon for growth. And almost every time, it’s the same type of CEO—the one who is a control freak, demands everyone to follow his instruction simply because he doesn’t trust anyone with decisions.
These are the people whom I called the non-visionary average-minded CEOs. They love predictable numbers from sales to cost-cutting measures and efficiency. Marketing? This subject is vague. It’s unpredictable and often non-linear. They’ll say brand-building and thought-leadership are not even measurable.
Those visionary CEOs are completely a different animal. They know that over time, having the right marketing strategy and execution, it will transform a business from being a forgettable one into a market leader. They just know this. The average ones don’t.
Sales are far more critical than marketing, according to the non-visionary CEOs. They’re more than happy to fund more and more sales hires because sales is definitely equal to revenue. But marketing? That department is nothing but a “fluff”. They hardly want to recognise the importance of producing strategic content, funnel, ads, and lead generation—these don’t immediately convert. What they fail to see is that great marketing lowers acquisition costs, builds trust, and makes sales easier. They’d rather chase short-term wins than invest in compounding returns.
That is why I noticed many CEOs who dismiss marketing actually have bad experience of being burned before. They were overpromised by irresponsible agencies, misled by vanity metrics, or sold bad campaigns that come with hefty investments. A smart CEO doesn’t throw out an entire department out of the window just because of a few missteps. They get better at themselves. They improvise, refine, adapt, and hire better. They know that marketing shapes perception, builds trust, and ensures that when customers are ready to buy, they think of you first. The best CEOs get this. The average ones think it’s nonsense.
Just take a look at the biggest companies out there. Think of one brand you are familiar with. You will notice that their CEOs don’t just fund marketing, they see it as a competitive edge. They know marketing isn’t a cost—they use it to win the game. They use it to grow not just revenue and profit, but also cash flow, market share and brand reputation year on year.
That is why every single time I come across a CEO who displays a trait that he distrusts marketing, it says more about them than marketing itself. I know there’s no point convincing him to think differently. It’s because they truly fear the word marketing. And, there’s nothing much I can do with that kind of loser’s mindset.
This article is originally published on AAR & Company.
