Marketing should create new value, not simply automate around the edges
For a long time, some of the sharpest minds in marketing have opined that the discipline is rooted in creating value for the customer.
From Peter Drucker through to modern-day writers such as Rory Sutherland and Helen Edwards, there are many that have decried the view of marketing as a cost centre and have pointed out the limitations of mere 'optimisation'.
The people want ‘faster horses’
Without innovation, marketers would be stuck trying to repeat last year’s KPIs, tweaking the strategy and budget in pursuit of greater efficiency or effectiveness, until a disruptor rides into town. What they should be doing is going after untapped customer need, or creating newly desirable products, or both.
There are lots of analogies that apply, but probably none better than the apocryphal Henry Ford quote about the people “wanting faster horses”.
This ‘70:30’ debate about the role of experimentation in marketing is not quite as overwrought as some of the discussion about ‘brand vs. performance’ or ‘short term vs. long term’, but it lives in the same universe.
And – don’t roll your eyes – AI has suddenly made these existential questions very much of the moment. Because this tech is meant to free up our time to apply higher order thinking more often, and delegate the optimisation to the machines.
But the danger is that all our energy goes into using AI for efficiency, supercharging our short-sightedness into an uber-efficient system that is incapable of truly moving the needle.
This is an excerpt from CTI Digital's report, 2026 Trends: Marketing in the Age of AI. If you'd like to chat about AI and innovation with our expert team, get in touch.
Content marketing manager at CTI, Ben is a writer and editor with 15 years experience in the marketing industry.