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Catalyst is CIM’s member-only digital magazine, packed with features that explore new thinking across key fields such as leadership, behavioural economics and sociology. Collating career-enhancing content from a global network of business leaders, Catalyst leads the conversation on the latest topics affecting marketers and businesses alike, making it a truly invaluable learning resource to the modern marketer.

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The power of marketing

It’s not rocket science. We’re not saving lives. Marketers, it may surprise you to learn, tend to be quite humble about their chosen profession.

It’s not completely clear why this is. After all, you wouldn’t get such reticence from a lawyer or an accountant. Or, indeed, a rocket scientist.

Is there a belief that marketing is somehow… less? Less complex, less important, less difficult? If so, it’s misplaced. Because marketing done right is enormously impactful.

Look at chocolate bars and smoothies. Trivial items, you might think. Non-essentials, for certain. But the marketing behind Tony’s Chocolonely and Innocent Smoothies has been instrumental in bringing modern slavery and elderly heat poverty to mainstream attention – and they’ve put their money where their mouth is. Money they wouldn’t have if they couldn’t market effectively.

Then there’s the marketing of products that are not just helpful but essential. Dexcom glucose monitors, for example, are crucial in managing Type 1 diabetes. Or pensions – notoriously complex, yet the choices you make, based on your risk tolerance and financial circumstances, can ultimately determine whether you’ll have enough to live on in retirement.

The marketer’s skill is vital when distilling their complex product for the end consumer, so they feel confident in making an important life choice.

Realising the strengths and skills in marketing

This is why CIM continues to promote the Global Professional Marketing Framework (GPMF), guiding the skills and behaviours expected of professional marketers at all levels. In the UK, this is unusual. In Africa, it is expected. You cannot be considered a marketer unless you have completed recognised training. This makes perfect sense. You hold consumer trust, product success and the company’s P&L in your hands.

It’s very easy to say that you have certain values, that you hold some qualifications and that you will follow all the rules. We are credulous people on the whole; if you write it down, we’ll believe it. An extra layer of validation, certification or accreditation is increasingly important.

So, for marketers, CIM has its qualification levels, fellowships and now the GPMF. But there are other bodies too, which offer to verify companies’ statements. In our cover story, we explore how well these overseers perform their roles. Is slapping a logo on your headed paper enough to generate trust? And who is checking on the certifiers?

We also dive into how the government’s policy decisions are impacting marketers, from how consumer and business data is accessed, to a bill shaping how marketers can and should use AI. There’s also important information about the transfer of the management of apprenticeships to Skills England, overseen by the Secretary of State. CIM is keeping an eye on its progress to make sure future apprenticeship standards reflect the needs of the profession.

It’s ironic that one of the biggest champions for marketing leadership development in this issue is not even a marketer, but Amina Folarin, CEO of OLIVER UK and former HR professional. But sometimes you can be the exception that proves the rule – that you don’t always have to be a marketer to know what marketing needs.

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Remember the story of Icarus? The golden child who ignored his father’s warnings and flew too close to the sun, so his wax and feather wings melted and he plummeted to earth?

That fable is typically used as a warning for anyone who’s getting too big for their boots, but it could equally be a cautionary tale for any inventor. Can they make sure a project thought up in the workshop survives an encounter with the real world?

Many brand innovations have their ‘Icarus moment’, driven by hubris or shareholder pressure to push boundaries too far. But there’s often a legitimate reason to venture into the unknown.

Companies must find paths to growth. You can either find more customers, or different things to sell to existing customers. Or a bit of both. If you build new products but they’re similar to ones you already produce, or those made by competitors, is it a compelling proposition for consumers?

At some point, brands look to strike out into completely new areas, creating entirely new markets and sectors. There’s a lot to be gained from this. First-mover advantage, virgin territory to set the standard, zero competition and kudos for solving an unmet need.

But there’s also risk. An unmet need may also be an unidentified need – the consumer simply doesn’t think they need this new thing. The brand will have to do a lot of work to persuade them otherwise.

Then there are the glitches. Version 1.0 is rarely without its faults. The proposition may over-promise and under-deliver or is so new the consumer doesn’t know how to get it to work properly. Brands must have super-strong equity and make a product that is still compelling despite its faults for the consumer to bear with it until the kinks are ironed out.

Our cover story this issue delves into why some brands succeed while others fail in the great innovation gamble. We explore three of the biggest changes in the consumer landscape to happen over the last three decades – mobile internet, organic food and electric vehicles. From these, we gain learnings about what marketers need to focus on when innovating and expanding to futureproof their brand.

Looking to the future can stimulate feelings of expectation, fear and excitement. But the fact that we have the luxury of anticipating a future is something most of us take for granted. Those who experience suicidal thoughts have a very bleak view of the future indeed, and it’s something Simon Gunning, CEO of CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) set out to change when he joined the organisation in 2017.

Our profile documents his early career as a music manager, and latterly digital media maven in charge of the BBC’s ‘future media’ as well as marketing and audiences. But it was when he joined CALM that we saw just how much difference positive communication can make to people’s lives. Because, while dealing with a topic that many people shy away from discussing – someone in the UK dies by suicide every 90 minutes – his main message is that the future can be positive, and “life can be better”.

All too often, marketing is dismissed as fluff – ‘colouring-in’. Or that somehow, because the activity ultimately leads to selling something, it’s less worthy. I think it’s clear from the work Gunning is doing at CALM that the marketer’s skill can be put to great use in some pretty challenging circumstances. But whether it’s orange juice, mental health, summer holidays or credit cards, the marketer plays a vital role.

Which is why in this issue, you will also find the results of an exclusive in-person roundtable that Catalyst hosted with CIM Chief Executive Chris Daly and leading marketers to discuss what it means to be a professional marketer. It was at this meeting that CIM launched the Global Professional Marketing Framework (GPMF) which acts as a guide for the development of skills, capability and behaviour of marketers across the profession. This framework was developed through consultation with industry and extensive research which re-enforces the knowledge and insight that we hope you will also find in this, and every, issue of Catalyst.

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