Part 2: Less noise, more nerve | Marketers: Focus on headline earnings, not awards

In Part 2 of this series, we pick up from Part 1, which covered how three of South Africa's leading marketers are rethinking budgets, measurement and creativity. Part 2 picks up where the pressure really lives: in the boardroom, in the agency relationship and in the questions AI still can't answer.
Marketers and agencies need to ensure their values align (Image source: © 123rf )
Marketers and agencies need to ensure their values align (Image source: © 123rf 123rf)

The conversation took place in a masterclass hosted by Johanna McDowell, CEO of the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS), featuring Melanie Forbes of Cell C, Buli Ndlovu of Nedbank and Lance Coertzen of Twizza.

AI is a tool, not a strategy

Despite AI dominating industry conversation, the panel treated it with grounded pragmatism.

One marketer’s framing cut through the noise: before reaching for AI, get the human intelligence right.

"You still need the curiosity and creativity of human beings — then you use AI to scale it. Consumers have real tensions. AI is an enabler. It shouldn't be the soul of what you create."

A useful tool, in other words. But not a substitute for understanding people, and not a strategy in its own right.

Earning a seat — and keeping it

Across the organisations represented, marketing is no longer peripheral to how growth is defined and delivered.

A leading marketer was unambiguous: "Marketing is actually a commercial role. Everyone should be a marketer in the business, including our CFO. Growth shouldn't just be marketing's responsibility."

Another offered a concrete illustration of how the tide is turning: "Our CMO presented alongside the CEO and CFO to analysts. That says everything about how the role is evolving."

But influence comes with expectation. The boardroom seat has been earned. Holding it is the harder task.

The agency relationship, renegotiated

The traditional model — brief, respond, deliver, repeat — is giving way to something more fluid and more demanding.

One approach that’s gained traction: an "annual marketing pilgrimage" that brings all agency partners and senior business leaders into the same room.

Business presents its plans and anxieties directly.

One moment that stuck was a business leader telling the room that "the thing keeping me up at night is that you're too focused on awards, whereas I'm focused on headline earnings".

That kind of clarity lands differently when it comes straight from the source rather than filtered through a brief.

The panel pointed out what needs to change on both sides.

"Agencies need to push back more. If the brief isn't clear, say so." And on what makes a relationship work over time: values alignment.

One creative agency was chosen in part because growth sits at the centre of its own purpose.

"That alignment means they already understand their role in what we're trying to achieve."

An industry finding its honesty

The session reinforced why these masterclasses continue to draw a crowd — around 80 attended.

They offer something rare: a candid account of what's actually happening inside organisations.

The most useful note, though, was the forward-looking one.

Constraints aren't easing, and the expectation is that agencies will need to respond with a different kind of thinking.

"Innovation isn't always tech. It's how you think and how you approach problems."

The industry isn't becoming more complicated. It's becoming more honest about what works, what doesn't and what marketing is actually there to do.


 
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