Rory Sutherland: Confidence-Stricken Marketers Must Re-Assert Their Role In Value Creation
10 Nov, 2022
Marketers are suffering from a crisis of confidence and must take steps to re-assert their crucial role in value creation, says Ogilvy Vice-chair and MAD//Masters Co-founder Rory Sutherland.
Marketing is experiencing a crisis of confidence because the industry has lost sight of its crucial role in creating value, says Ogilvy Vice-chair and MAD//Masters Co-founder Rory Sutherland.
Speaking ahead of this month’s MAD//Masters By Rory Sutherland course - which kicks off on 16 November - Sutherland told MAD//Insight that the industry must re-assert its role in creating value and driving growth: “Marketers have fundamentally started to suffer a crisis of confidence because they've lost sight of or indeed faith in the absolutely central, unique and indispensable role they play in value creation, and indeed, the role they play in the economy as a whole."
“Put very simply, a bad product well marketed is still a bad product. But a good product badly marketed is basically a bad product. There's no worse thing you can do than create something wonderful, and fail to communicate, poor, explain or describe or enthuse people about its wonders. That's the most wasteful thing you can do economically,” he added.
Sutherland added that marketers who enrol in MAD//Masters would benefit from a fresh perspective and confidence boost: “What I hope I can do is give you a new take on what marketers really do, and why you can't do without them. I think it was software guru Alan Kay who said that a change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points. Whilst I can't promise you that kind of boost, I can guarantee you a new way of looking at marketing, which not only makes you more confident of its value, but also makes you more confident in yourself and the role you play within the business.”
Launched in spring 2022, MAD//Masters By Rory Sutherland is MAD//Fest and Rory Sutherland’s online course for marketers, commercial leaders and founders who want to leverage creativity, innovation and behavioural science to gain a competitive advantage. Featuring weekly lectures, live online seminars and a physical meetup at MAD//Fest London, the course features 12 key modules listed here. MAD//Masters By Rory Sutherland is fully CPD-accredited and up to 40 CPD points are available on completion.
The next MAD//Masters By Rory Sutherland course kicks off on 16 November. Click here to enrol and get a complimentary MAD//Fest London (4-6 July 2023) ticket worth £650.