The false choice that’s killing effectiveness

This newsletter comes from the hosts of The Marketing Architects, a research-first show answering your biggest marketing questions. Find us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!

 

This week, we're exploring "wrong-termism" with Liam Moroney, founder of Storybook Marketing. We dive into why false dichotomies are damaging marketing effectiveness and how you can make brand marketing more tangible for skeptical executives. 

—Elena  

 

Most B2B marketers are "tool operators," not real marketers.  

That's according to Liam Moroney, who argues that many tech industry marketing professionals have platform experience but lack foundational marketing training. This creates a cycle where marketers focus on tactics without understanding what actually drives growth. 

 

"Wrong-Termism" is Killing Marketing Effectiveness                    

Marketers are getting trapped in false choices between brand and performance, short-term and long-term, and emotion and logic. 

The real problem lies in how teams approach these decisions. Especially in the tech industry. 

1. Linear thinking dominates. Marketers believe they must "do brand, then drive demand" in sequential order rather than understanding these work simultaneously.

2. Measurement mismatch. Teams try to measure long-term brand work using short-term performance metrics, setting campaigns up to fail.

3. False urgency. The tech industry's focus on quick exits and VC funding creates unnatural pressure for immediate results.

4. Language confusion. Terms like "demand generation" and "demand creation" imply marketers can manufacture demand from nothing, when they really capture existing demand. As marketers, we know language matters. So it’s worth discussing how we describe marketing itself. 

The solution isn't choosing one approach over another. Long-term growth always has roots in the short term. The most effective campaigns drive both immediate response and future brand equity. 

Listen in on our discussion.

 

"The Wrong and the Short of It"         

This piece by Tom Roach challenges the marketing industry's obsession with false dichotomies. Roach argues that sustainable growth comes from campaigns that work both immediately and over time, not from choosing one approach over another. 

Read the article. 

 

 

The trap of false choices               

"If you have a choice of two things and can't decide, take both." 

— Gregory Corso, Poet