In today’s fast-paced business world, marketing is both more noticeable and, paradoxically, less important than ever. Although advertising sits at the heart of discussions about branding, digital transformation, and the customer experience, many marketers can still only implement one piece of their plan: promotion.

What is the result? A group of marketers whose power is waning, whose jobs are becoming more separate, and who struggle to advance their careers.

The 4Ps: A Framework Forgotten

The four Ps—Product, Price, Place, and Promotion—used to define marketing. Together, they gave marketers the power to shape customer desires and drive business growth. Over time, however, the scope of these responsibilities narrowed. Today, many marketing teams’ primary job is simply to promote, using channels such as ads, social media, content, and messaging.

While promotion remains very important, it accounts for only 25% of the total marketing mix. Marketers who do not help create products, set prices, or decide how to distribute them are left to merely package results they did not influence.

From Strategic Partner to Service Function

Too often, organizations view the marketing department of today as a “service center”—a place where brand exposure is executed. But this perspective diminishes marketing’s strategic utility. If marketing professionals only learn about important business choices after they are made, they merely tell someone else’s story.

However, when marketing takes a proactive role and asks, “Is this the right product? Is it at the right price? For the right people? In the right spot?”—it drives the narrative from the very beginning.

The Career Growth Cost

This narrow scope has real effects on careers. Marketers who haven’t worked with pricing models, product lifecycles, or distribution economics can find it challenging to transition to roles in general management, the C-suite, or the board. Yet, these are precisely the experiences that build business acumen and strengthen leadership authority.

Marketers need to reclaim their place at the full table where business decisions are made if they want to move from the brand room to the executive office.

Winning Brands Think Holistically

Some of the most successful brands, both locally and worldwide, are those where marketers act as business architects rather than just brand boosters. They influence product design, develop go-to-market strategies, and understand margin constraints in relation to market developments.

In Nigeria, the emergence of nimble consumer brands in FMCG, fintech, and fashion demonstrates a simple truth: marketing that impacts the entire customer experience, not just the message, is what fosters loyalty and longevity.

The Way Forward: From Promo to Power

It’s time for marketing to engage with more aspects of the business. This means getting closer to data, product teams, price plans, and customer service contact points. To achieve this, marketers need to ask more challenging questions and focus on overall business outcomes rather than just marketing KPIs.

For business leaders, it’s about believing that marketing can do more than just make noise.

Because everyone loses when marketing’s role is limited only to advertising. However, when marketers take charge of all the ways value is created, they don’t just improve the brand; they enhance the entire business.

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