Marketing will never be the same.

Good. I’m 100% fine with that.

I believe what we are living through right now is the end of a cycle. A macro-cycle. I'm certainly not a behavioral psychologist, pandemic expert or what have you, though it seems that a lot of people suddenly are. What can I possibly add to this conversation? Why should you listen to me? The truth is – no one really knows what’s going on because we’ve never been through anything like this before. But I know this – things are going to be different. And it has been long overdue in the marketing industry.

The truth is - No one really knows what's going on. Anyone who tells you they know the way is either wrong or lying.

Things are changing and evolving in media and communications that are not going to "return to normal". And I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing - why they are changing is of course terrible. Millions are unemployed. Thousands of lives lost and now in the balance. Global impact. Recession. Depression. All of it, quite suddenly.

Think back to where we were only a month ago. There were several red flags in marketing over the past few years. I’m going to unpack what the normal was that many anticipate a return to...

Advertising became a dirty word. People became Storytellers to counter this. Job titles included being some sort of a disruptionist.

I had students in my marketing class - smart, dedicated people looking forward to entering the business. Over 75% of them had ad blockers on their devices. Is that not a leading indicator of something? How could I blame them? A lot of advertising has become terrible (from creative to cookies and incessant remarketing in an unintended McLuhan irony).

The Facebook Cambridge Analytica fiasco. Yet stocks or profits didn’t really take a hit. No regulation. Privacy fears. Litteral threats to the democratic process in US elections. Propaganda 2.0. Now it seems like it never happened.

Social media’s documented impact on mental health and young people’s rising rates of anxiety. The misplaced reliance on building distributed audiences on unowned platforms, driven by the call of content - not purpose - just content.

Here’s a review of social media’s first decade in marketing:

These were also all accompanied by breakout sessions on providing value.

Vapid influencer as celebrity content ranging from Kardashian content heights to Fyre Festival lows, right down to the sorrowful, even shameful child abusive persona Lil' Tay.

Brands inserting themselves into every holiday, occasion or real-time event – including the anniversary of Pearl Harbour, 9/11 in the continual chase of capturing Oreo Moments. Now all culminating with the social distancing logo of McDonald's.

Separated arches? How could (brand) awareness be so tone-deaf?

Yet - these are the brands that are "there for us" in this COVID-19 crisis. Because “we are all in this together”. Are we? Do you see the way people are behaving in your stores? How about - unless your brand is going to pay my bills right now, you are not "there for me" or the 6+ million recently unemployed.

“We are all in this together.” Are we?

Programmatic challenges from major CPG brands. Ad fraud. Toxic Twitter. Bots and fake followers.

And let's not forget shrinking agency headcounts, inflated margins, parent company consolidation, rampant ageism for salary cost controls and the intrusion of major consultancies into the space.

That was the current marketing environment over the last 5 years. Was it ALL bad? No, of course not. But there were absolutely some things that needed to be corrected.

It is very difficult for organizations or people to change for the sake of change – even when that change is beneficial. The only thing that usually brings that change is a crisis. And we are in an absolute crisis. In those times of change, crisis becomes the process. And it usually stays that way. Right now is a critical time. We now have a CHOICE on how to implement that change moving forward, long term, as we are all now at the same level, the same point. Everyone.

We now have a CHOICE on how to implement change moving forward.

It’s still very early in all this, the dust has not settled yet. We are not yet at peak impact. That impact is still very much evolving on a daily basis. But sooner or later, the crisis, the process and the sentiment will shift.

The first movers now will lead this. It's a challenge, and anyone who tells you they know the way is either wrong or lying. They don't. But I believe we need to purposefully evolve the conversation surrounding brand and marketing - and I believe that those that do not or can not, will be left behind.

Here is the challenge that lies ahead.