Debunking Myths in Marketing

Sunny Park

Founder & Principal, Ascendro Advisory

Remedy or Reconstitution?

The question – marketing function has not evolved well in the new business landscape naturally applies to the capability story. Short-termism is a symptom, not the cause. Marketing remains stuck in an outdated brand-building paradigm, ill-equipped for today’s data-driven, tech-fueled world. Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard’s Global CMO, captures this in Quantum Marketing:

Marketers have not been able to keep pace with the dramatic advancements in technology and data. CMOs have typically been biased toward the creative side of the house, and they were more at home in the creative aspects of their role than in the analytical and quantitative aspects.  …  And on the other side stood the new breed of contemporary marketers, who have very different skill sets. They're all about data, technology, experimentation and testing, and highly automated and programmatic operations. They couldn't care less about the foundational aspects of marketing.

When CEOs demand that CMOs become the “single voice of the customer,” the gap in capabilities becomes glaring. Digital media, e-commerce, and analytics require marketers to master attribution models, optimize product pages, and navigate weekly updates to platforms like Google, Meta, and TikTok. Few organizations have successfully retrained their teams to meet these demands, leaving them stuck in an innovator’s dilemma—built on brand-focused models that no longer suffice.

We are going through a time that calls for a reconstitution of marketing - reconstruct how we define, evaluate, and execute marketing in today’s world.

Let’s debunk a few myths

To move forward, we must dispel pervasive myths clouding the marketing conversation:

Myth 1: “Marketing = Advertising”

Marketing is not just brand communication. It’s the full 4Ps—Product, Price, Place, Promotion. I was speaking with a startup founder the other day, who excitedly acclaiming that he achieved $10 million ARR with zero marketing. What he meant I believe was he didn’t spend money on paid media. If he delivered those fantastic business outcomes, I am sure he did via a good product, right customer targeting & outreach, at an attractive price. All these activities are marketing. Period. When a leader separates “product-led” growth versus “marketing-led” growth, the organization will be disoriented from integration.

Myth 2: “If You Can’t Measure It, It’s Useless”

Not everything valuable is easily measured. Understanding customer feedback, behaviours and perception is complex. While metrics like ROAS, CAC, LTV, and NPS are useful signals, they don’t fully capture non-pixeled customer signals like purchase intent and brand equity. By using multiple leading indicators and real-world context, CEOs, CMOs and sales leaders – all frontline business leaders – must be able to judge the brand and customer experience health. You can’t outsource this to your agency.

Consider a boardroom discussion: a sales leader learned about ROAS (Return on Advertising Spend) by Google or Amazon. The sales leader loved the notion because the spend only targets audience who are “in-market”, and media platforms provide evidence if the audience ended up buying. Common problem is that the leader insists unlimited investment on search, as he or she doesn’t understand “in-market” audience, who are at consideration or purchase funnel is typically a fraction, say 10% of audience that you need to reach. Yet what’s worse is that the sales leader believes he or she knows everything of marketing measurement and stop listening to others.

Myth 3: Brand extremism

Some claim “brand doesn’t matter anymore,” while others insist “brand alone drives growth.” Both are wrong.

Brand is still one of the most efficient tools in business. It builds trust, reduces acquisition cost, and simplifies customer decisions. And brand isn't just about advertising—it's reflected in pricing, product quality, service experience, and availability. It’s everything your customer touches.

On the other hand, in most industries, brand alone can’t drive growth anymore. Today, brand must be part of a holistic strategy. Luxury, entertainment or content, traditionally standalone brand-led growth industries also face the challenges to be more holistic with price, channel, new digital growth. In this short-term, hyper-competitive world, every business must define how brand fits into their overall marketing mix.