Why Most Marketing Departments Aren’t Built for Transformation
We’re living in a system that doesn’t make sense, at least not if you're trying to build a marketing team that can drive real commercial impact.
Marketing as a function has always had an identity problem. For decades, it’s swung between being perceived as a creative cost centre, a digital "to-do list" factory, or a bolt-on to sales. Somewhere along the way, the actual purpose of marketing (to shape the narrative, create demand, and support growth) got lost.
And so did the marketers who know how to do it.
Let’s be honest, if you find a marketing department that’s commercially sharp, strategically aligned to sales, and operating with clear accountability- that’s a four-leaf clover. Because most aren’t. Not because the people aren’t talented. But because the environment wasn’t built for that kind of thinking.
The top-of-funnel trap
Too many marketers are hired to "fill the funnel", and that’s where their job, and their thinking, stops. I once had a senior marketing leader say to me, “I don’t give a damn what happens to the rest of the funnel.” That’s extreme, but also not uncommon.
Marketing activity gets rolled out with no segmentation, no clear value proposition, and no real understanding of customer behaviour. The buying journey, the objections, the reasons a brand is or isn’t shortlisted, all of it gets overlooked. And yet, large budgets are spent, campaigns are launched. Metrics are gathered (sometimes). But impact? Often unclear.
So it’s no surprise that in tough economic times, marketing is the first thing on the chopping block. When marketing doesn’t speak the language of business, it becomes a liability, not a growth lever.
The 3–5 years problem
This problem runs deeper than execution, it’s structural. Just look at how most companies hire. They want marketers with 3–5 years of experience. They value tools over thinking. The default is job specs that list software and channels, not outcomes or commercial impact.
This isn’t a slight on those earlier in their careers in any shape or form. There’s absolutely room for tactical specialists and we need them. But when you build entire teams around that level of experience, without any senior strategic anchors, you get execution without direction and movement without momentum.
And you end up with a function that reports activity, not impact.
Builders, shapers, and strategic misfits
There’s also room for a different kind of marketer, the ones who can operate in the messy, the complex, the fast-moving. The ones who build progress where there’s no blueprint. Who align the business, the customer, the brand, and the story, and who advocate for that narrative inside and out of the business.
These are the builders. The fixers. The strategic misfits who don’t fit neatly into the hiring matrix and so often get missed.
Why? Because they don’t tick the boxes.
Their careers haven’t followed a neat line. They’ve navigated ambiguity, driven change across silos, made sense of tangled go-to-market activity, and built credibility with sales, operations, product and comms. That’s not something you find in a job title. But it’s exactly what companies need if they’re serious about transformation.
The industry-wide impact
This isn’t just a hiring issue. It’s a marketing industry issue.
We don’t train people to think commercially. We don’t talk enough about business outcomes. We don’t reward critical thinking. And we’ve made it increasingly difficult for transformational marketers to be found… let alone thrive.
If we want to fix this, we need to reimagine every part of the system:
How we hire
How we train
How we measure success
How marketing is positioned in the business
That means stepping off the treadmill and having some difficult conversations, not just within marketing, but at the very top of the business. Because until someone in the boardroom is prepared to advocate for this kind of change, we’re just going to get more of the same.
The way forward
Transformation doesn’t start with a job spec. It starts with intent.
If you want to build a marketing function that delivers commercial value, stop looking for someone who ticks the boxes. Start looking for someone who shifts the centre of gravity.
The future of B2B marketing won’t be built by form-fillers.
It’ll be built by people who see the gaps, challenge the system, and connect the dots.
It’s time we made room for them.
Let’s Talk.
If you’re navigating change — a merger, transformation, or a moment where brand and marketing need to lead, I’d love to help.
👉 Email me directly: andrews_samantha@hotmail.com
👉 Or message me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-andrews/