Introduction
Once-in-a-lifetime moments used to happen once in a lifetime. Now they happen daily, simultaneously, relentlessly. This chaos is changing everything: rewiring our brains, shifting customer behavior, and reshaping the business landscape.
The economy is volatile. Customers are overwhelmed. Technology is accelerating faster than teams can keep up. Yet marketing still operates like it's 2015: too slow, too complex, too disconnected from business results. Teams are stuck in the past: outdated KPIs, bloated tech stacks, and static planning. And if AI is the future, it's making things worse today, churning out creepy, forgettable content that erodes trust and widens the skills gap.
This isn't your average economic downturn. It's a reckoning—a generational shift in how value is created and how marketing must prove it.
In an age of chaos, simplify your marketing.
According to a recent Gartner report, CMOs report that their marketing budgets remain flat year-over-year, and 59% report they have insufficient budget to execute their strategy in 2025.1 That doesn't mean doing less, it means doing better.
Simplify your customer interactions, your tech stack, your measurement, and, above all, your purpose delivering value.
Measure impact, not activity. Prioritize clarity over noise. Authenticity over automation. Accountability over applause. If you're still talking click-through rates, you're missing the point. And your CEO knows it.
A staggering 65% of CEOs admit they lack confidence in their CMOs,2 a crisis that puts the future of countless companies at risk. In today's unforgiving climate, marketing can no longer hide behind buzzwords or surface-level metrics. The C-suite must demand radical accountability and true authenticity from their marketing leaders—anything less threatens the company's survival. Now, more than ever, it's not just about asking better questions, it's about challenging marketing to rise to a new standard, or risk getting left behind.
This paper sets a dual challenge:
- What leaders should expect of marketing
- What CMOs must do to deliver
Because marketing has two paths: Simplify and profit. Or overcomplicate and perish.
1. Market conditions are rewriting the rules
Today's market isn't just turbulent. It's hostile to old ways of working.
Tariffs, inflation, and geopolitical instability are slamming margins. Supply chains are unstable. Borrowing is expensive. Trust is fragile. AI is creating as many problems as it solves. Your average marketing team wasn't built for this environment.
The question isn't whether conditions have changed. It's whether your marketing can keep up with the times.
Let's break it down:
TARIFFS AND TRADE
Trade tensions—especially between the US, China, and Europe—are raising costs. Tariffs have driven prices up across industries—for shoes and apparel, by nearly 40%.3 Marketers now face the challenge of justifying these price increases without offering additional value. That requires clarity and authenticity, not clever positioning or ambiguity.
SUPPLY CHAIN STRAIN
Bottlenecks are driving up costs, delaying production, and triggering shortages. With global shipping costs up 12%, some companies are losing 8% of annual revenue to disruption.4 From the war in Ukraine to raw materials, the crunch is hitting core industries, like automotive and electronics, harder than ever. Marketing spend is under the microscope, and ROI isn't optional—it's survival.
CONFIDENCE COLLAPSE
Economic anxiety and price hikes are delaying purchases. Seventy percent of consumers expect a recession.5 Business leaders can't forecast confidently. With the world so overwhelming and tensions so high, the smallest friction point can cause drop-off. Simplifying the customer experience isn't a nice-to-have—it's your lifeline.
THE AI ARMS RACE
Most marketing organizations are dangerously unprepared for AI. Meanwhile, AI is flooding marketing channels with shallow, tone-deaf content that customers are tuning out. The average tech stack is overflowing, yet only 58% of platform features ever get used.6 Advertising agencies, once valued for creative originality and strategic insight, are now grappling with AI-generated work that threatens to devalue human creativity and commoditize ideas. Adding more tools without a clear purpose or skilled people only amplifies confusion and noise. With technology and AI, more is not better. Without discipline and expertise, it simply makes chaos louder.
Today's conditions have shattered the status quo. Last year's strategy won't survive this year's market.
2. Customer priorities are changing
We're living through a constant cascade of crisis: wars, inflation, layoffs, tech disruption. And it's not just reshaping markets. It's reshaping people.
Buyers are overwhelmed, emotionally maxed out, and quick to drop anything that feels complicated, dishonest, or annoying. Their expectations have evolved and so have their behaviors.
If your marketing still assumes a rational buyer on a calm day, you're already off course.
In 2025, customers demand more and tolerate less. Four priorities matter most:
VALUE-FIRST, NOT JUST PRICE-CONSCIOUS
People are delaying discretionary purchases, comparing everything, and asking tougher questions: "What exactly am I paying for?" They don't have time for inflated promises or vague value. If it's not clear, they're gone.
SIMPLE, SEAMLESS EXPERIENCES
Buyers expect every brand to act like Amazon. Whether they're on mobile, in a meeting, or chatting with support, the tone and experience must match. Any mismatch triggers skepticism. If you make it hard to buy, they won't.
TECH THAT HELPS, NOT CREEPS
Customers know AI is everywhere. They hate when it shows: bot-written LinkedIn posts, generic emails (or overpersonalized ones), and infuriating chat tools. When automation misses the mark, it feels manipulative, annoying, or forgettable. Authenticity is the new intelligence. Relevance wins. Creepiness loses.
CLEAR, TRUSTWORTHY COMMUNICATION
People are tired of bait-and-switch pricing, greenwashing, and empty buzzwords. They want honest pricing, transparent sourcing, and real accountability. Ambiguity is a red flag. If you waffle, they walk.
Customers crave clarity, connection, and ease. Marketing must lead by making things more human. The way forward isn't more complexity. It's simplicity with purpose.
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Originally published 16 September 2025.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
