First, a definition for clarification:  

Marketing is market-oriented corporate management.

The development of marketing strategies aligned with the sustainable satisfaction of needs is the task and goal for all management levels of a company.  This basic mission must be prescribed and lived by owners or CEOs.  It is the very responsibility of the first management level. Who else should define the corporate strategy?

Recently, messages are multiplying that marketing will lose its importance. With increasing digitalization and the influence of artificial intelligence, marketing is increasingly sidelined – major corporations lay off their CMOs, marketing managers degenerate into implementation assistants for communication and tactical sales promotions. Big Data Analysis and AI take over strategic alignment.

Does that make sense? Who can better understand the existing and future needs of people?  People or machines? Can digitalization and artificial intelligence hold a candle to the genius of a marketing strategist like Steve Jobs?  

Of course, the environmental factors and parameters for developing successful marketing strategies have changed.  Nothing is as it used to be – the standard recipes of the past have served their time.

Target group definitions no longer really apply, information and communication behavior has become unmanageable, brand loyalty is declining, purchase decision criteria and customer journey are constantly redefining themselves, loss of purchasing power, social imbalances, and regulatory frameworks are raining down on us.

The momentum of change is growing, everything is happening at breakneck speed, and there is a danger of losing orientation and focus in the labyrinth of possibilities.  

Still in focus:  Creating value - only the sustainable satisfaction of relevant needs leads to success.

Everything used to be easier!  -  No! Just slower.

Even the captains of industry of the Industrial Revolution faced seemingly unsolvable tasks and solved them. Overleaving the development of strategies to machines and systems because of the prevailing complexity and speed of change is a capitulation of entrepreneurship.

Visions, strategies, and brave decisions lead to success. Identifying them is becoming more and more difficult in an increasingly complex universe.  Therefore, leaders today also need the critical view from the outside, the "true" opinion of customers, the preparation of social and economic trends, as well as the constructive debate with diverging opinions and attitudes of the most diverse stakeholders.  This process is complex and controversial.  Therefore, specialized consultants are increasingly coming into play to define goals and a sustainable strategy based on them together with their clients.

The IQONIC Consulting network, consisting of long-standing entrepreneurs, CEOs, and senior managers from a wide range of industries and subject areas, assesses the situation of a company in all success-critical areas from an external perspective, is a sparring partner, and, with its specially developed tools and processes, creates clarity for decisions to ensure sustainable growth.

Conclusion:  It takes people for people, supported by machines and systems.

MARKETING AT AN END?  -  NO!   -   MARKETING AT THE BEGINNING!

‍