Is Marketing Education Fluffy and Weak?

September 18, 2024


Is Marketing Education Fluffy and Weak?

Exhibit    Fluffy and Weak — What CFOs think of Marketers. Source: Marketing Week

Why bring up an article from Marketing Week published a decade ago? Because its message rings even truer today than it did back then. The perception that marketers are “fluffy” and “weak” continues to persist. CMO turnover and the shift to CGO (Chief Growth Officer) titles reflects a diminishing focus on traditional marketing roles.

However, this isn’t the main issue I want to address.

What I wish to discuss is the state of marketing education and how its failure to evolve may be contributing to the decline of the marketing discipline, particularly within business schools.

Is Marketing Really “Fluffy”?

Let’s start by debunking the notion that marketing is inherently “fluffy” or “weak”. Marketing is neither. It is widely accepted as a blend of art and science. With digital transformation, the growth of social media and analytics, and the advent of artificial intelligence, the scope of marketing has rapidly expanded. Every core aspect of marketing can now be evaluated through data and analytics, including AI.

However, many marketing practitioners fail to utilise the “science” behind it. Based on my 15 years at Nielsen, serving clients across the globe, I’m convinced that most practitioners lack the awareness or understanding of analytics in marketing.

The Lack of Analytical Rigor

Even companies relying on top-tier marketing research firms like Nielsen, which are arguably more advanced in their marketing efforts, often struggle with basic analytical concepts. I’ve frequently encountered questions like “What is weighted distribution?” or “What is (AMA) Average Minute Audience?”—metrics that marketing professionals should be well-versed in.

Consider GRPs, for instance. How many marketers truly understand how this metric is calculated? Do they recognise the differences in how a 'view' is defined on TV versus online platforms? (It’s important that they do).

Compare this to finance, where concepts like COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) or NPV (Net Present Value) are second nature. Finance professionals are well versed in these concepts because they are held to rigorous academic standards, requiring specific qualifications. Fields like accountancy, law, medicine have formal qualifications. In contrast, marketing often lacks similar standards. All too often, there are no specialized qualifications or certifications equivalent to those found in other fields and trades.

The Disconnect in Marketing Education

A review of LinkedIn job ads for marketing positions at consumer marketing companies reveals a recurring theme: there’s a lack of emphasis on academic marketing qualifications. Companies such as Unilever, P&G, and Coca-Cola, with in-house marketing expertise, rely on on-the-job training for developing entry-level marketers.

This raises an intriguing question: does an education in marketing make no significant difference? Is this why companies don’t demand it?

Even students specialising in marketing aren’t always taught critical, practical skills like measuring distribution, estimating price elasticity, evaluating promotions, tracking and assessing advertising, or validating new products. Marketing courses often emphasise conceptual frameworks over practical, analytics-driven methodologies. This contributes to the declining interest in marketing specialisations among students. According to multiple sources, marketing programmes in many business schools are shrinking due to a shift in demand toward more quantitative fields like data science and digital marketing.

This shift has resulted in fewer stand-alone marketing roles within academic institutions. For instance, European business schools are increasingly focusing on cross-disciplinary roles, integrating marketing with technology and innovation management.

A Curriculum Out of Touch

The heart of the problem lies in the curriculum. Business schools are failing to prepare students for modern marketing roles, which are increasingly data and analytics driven. Marketing departments offer courses that lack the analytical rigor demanded by the marketplace.

According to a study conducted by Weber Shandwick, as reported by the American Marketing Association, 55% of CMOs believe that AI will have a “greater impact on marketing and communications than social media ever had”. Digital marketing and marketing analytics have been identified by CMOs as critical skills for the future of marketing. Despite this, many marketing programmes continue to lag behind in updating their curricula to address these evolving needs. Courses that focus on analytics-driven decision-making, which are now in high demand, remain largely inadequate in scope.

Introducing a course titled “Marketing Analytics” won’t close the gap if it primarily focuses on statistical techniques without emphasising real-world application—an area where many academics lack hands-on expertise. Similarly, teaching courses like social media analytics, which combine marketing with computer science topics such as natural language processing, data mining, and machine learning, presents additional challenges due to the need for cross-disciplinary knowledge.

Educators and Researchers

Academics typically juggle two roles: educator and researcher. However, at leading business schools, research often takes precedence over teaching, as it tends to align more closely with academic interests. Compounding this issue, institutions place greater incentives on research, which significantly influences both academic rankings and individual rewards.

This imbalance poses problems. Many business schools increasingly rely on adjunct faculty to handle a substantial portion of teaching responsibilities. As full-time academics remain immersed in a research-focused environment, their limited interaction with practitioners (due to less involvement in teaching), results in a growing disconnect with the realities of modern marketing practice.

While marketing academics may claim they want to engage with professionals, many remain in their academic bubble. They prefer teaching theory to undergraduate students over providing analytics driven solutions to MBA or EMBA students, who come with real-world experience and demand practical insights.

Is Academic Research Losing Touch with Real-world Marketing?

While academia has contributed significantly to marketing frameworks and models, much of the current academic research in marketing remains detached from practical application. Most of it is theoretical, based on assumptions that often fail to hold in real-world settings. Research tends to circulate within academic circles, where scholars primarily cite one another’s work, creating echo chambers with limited relevance to marketing professionals.

In contrast, it is practitioners who are driving the development and refinement of analytics-driven models, successfully operationalising them in real-world marketing. Firms like Nielsen and Kantar regularly introduce new products and services to meet the evolving demands of a fast-paced industry. Events hosted by these companies routinely draw hundreds of marketing professionals eager for actionable insights. On the other hand, academic seminars—even those featuring data from prominent brands like Coca-Cola—often struggle to attract professionals from those very companies and industries.

Marketing research firms measure the success of their work by the tangible value (return on their research investment) it delivers to clients. Academia, by comparison, focuses on citations rather than providing actionable insights for businesses.

To be clear, I am not suggesting that academic research should imitate industry-focused research, as they serve different purposes. However, if academia continues to prioritize citation-based metrics exclusively, the chasm between academic marketing research and industry practice will only widen.

The Role of Practitioners

A key way to bridge the gap between academic theory and real-world marketing is by increasing the involvement of practitioners in marketing education. Professionals with hands-on experience, particularly from companies known for their marketing acumen, bring invaluable insights that purely academic faculty often lack. They can inspire students by sharing real-life examples and case studies that make abstract theories more relatable.

However, this presents a “chicken and egg” problem. Marketing education has traditionally lacked a strong practical orientation, leading to a shortage of practitioners skilled in analytics-driven, practice-focused marketing. Moreover, the companies at the forefront of marketing innovation form an elite group, and professionals who hail from these organisations are highly sought after within the industry. The real challenge lies in motivating these in-demand experts to share their knowledge and contribute to educating the next generation of marketers.

To attract such top-tier practitioners, business schools must provide appropriate incentives. Poor treatment and lack of recognition for external marketing faculty can undermine the value of their contributions, making it essential for institutions to offer meaningful incentives and appreciation to those who bring real-world expertise into the classroom.

Outdated Curriculum and its Impact on the Marketing Profession

The relationship between marketing education and the marketing profession is inherently symbiotic. Education provides the foundation, while real-world experience enriches it. However, when one sphere falters, it inevitably affects the other. An outdated marketing curriculum can produce graduates unprepared for the modern marketing landscape.

The rapid pace of technological advances, shifting consumer behaviour, spread of social media and growth of artificial intelligence requires a curriculum that is constantly evolving. Without a strong foundation in these fields, graduates are left behind, unable to meet industry demands.

The Opportunity

The shift in demand towards more quantitative fields like data science and digital marketing presents more of an opportunity than a threat. As marketing becomes more data-driven, courses on marketing analytics, social media analytics, and digital marketing are squarely within the marketing domain. If these courses are developed with cutting-edge content, they will attract students across the various disciplines in business management as well as from faculties like business analytics, computer science, and engineering.

For instance, a comprehensive course on social media analytics should cover social data mining, natural language processing (NLP), sentiment analysis, and social network analysis—skills increasingly essential for modern marketers. Such courses could reinvigorate marketing departments and appeal to a broader range of students.

While certain traditional marketing roles may be declining both within academia as well as the industry, new opportunities are emerging in digital, analytics-driven, and technical marketing fields. The landscape is evolving rather than shrinking, and professionals with relevant digital and analytical skills are well-positioned to succeed.

Marketing departments at business schools must reinvent themselves. If they can successfully bridge the gap between theory and practice, they will not only revitalise marketing education but also equip students to excel in an increasingly complex, analytics-driven world.


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