The 10 biggest marketing challenges

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How do you know if a “famous guru” is still relevant?

My approach is straightforward: Are they actively engaged, adapting to current challenges, or simply repeating past successes with minor updates?

Many speakers and authors reuse outdated material with new titles, hoping the age of their content goes unnoticed. In contrast, truly relevant professionals remain active in their fields, continue consulting, work with real clients, and consistently update their perspectives to keep pace with a changing market.

That’s why marketing thinker and bestselling author Mark Schaefer stands out.

He’s not speaking from a museum of old ideas – he’s speaking from the field. Schaefer continues to advise major brands like Adidas, Coca-Cola, Microsoft and Pfizer, and he’s known for bringing fresh thinking rather than recycled slides.

This distinction is important because marketing is not a static discipline; it continually evolves.

Schaefer recently wrote something many of us have been thinking but too tired to type: “The 10 biggest marketing challenges (and, surprisingly, they’re not ‘AI problems’).” He starts by asking: “Are you tired of reading about AI? Me too.” Then he made the case – that the biggest marketing headaches are bigger than AI and many of them were already growing before the robots learned to write haikus.

Below are his 10 challenges, along with my straightforward commentary based on practical experience:

1. Awareness: getting noticed in a loud world. Awareness remains the primary objective of marketing, but attention is now divided across countless brief interactions. Media is fragmented, platforms are unstable, and consumers engage within their own digital environments. In other words, competition extends beyond direct competitors to include all sources of distraction.

2. From big campaigns to small acts of cultural relevance. Schaefer notes that brands are shifting from large-scale campaigns to brief, culturally relevant moments connected to music, sports, fashion, and online trends. Marketing has shifted from carefully planned productions to spontaneous, real-time engagement in unpredictable environments.

3. The need for speed. He references the well-known Oreo “Dunk in the Dark” campaign during the Super Bowl blackout as an example of effective real-time marketing. Currently, even a brief delay in responding to trends can render your efforts outdated.

4. The disconnected customer (earbuds on, world off). Many individuals under 25 consume media through earbuds, ad-free streaming, Discord and private channels where brands cannot easily purchase visibility. If you’ve been wondering why your ad spend feels like feeding coins to a vending machine that only dispenses disappointment, this is why.

5. Fixing the legacy marketing infrastructure. He raises a critical question: if word-of-mouth is the most trusted form of marketing, why are budgets for it, as well as for community and experiential marketing, often minimal? Organizations often allocate resources to familiar strategies rather than effective ones, which can be costly.

6. One person can alter your brand strategy. Previously, a brand was defined by its own messaging. Now, it is shaped by public perception, and amplification can rapidly escalate its reputation. This dynamic extends beyond public relations and fundamentally influences brand reputation.

7. Influencer marketing is no longer optional. Influencers can effectively reach audiences who are otherwise difficult to engage, respond quickly to cultural trends, and build strong connections with their followers. Excluding influencers from your strategy significantly limits your brand’s visibility and reach.

8. Talent acquisition and skill gaps. Marketing now requires proficiency in digital trends, analytics, rapid content creation and technology, while maintaining strategic focus. “There’s no shortage of jobs, there’s a shortage of the right skills,” he notes. In summary, organizations seek highly skilled professionals but often do not offer compensation that reflects these demands.

9. Proving ROI and justifying budgets. Schaefer highlights the challenge: leaders expect marketing to deliver immediate, measurable returns, while customer behavior remains unpredictable. Marketing needs patience. Quarterly targets rarely come with patience.

10. Global depopulation. He also notes that population decline will significantly impact demand, market dynamics and growth projections. No marketing strategy can compensate for a declining customer base due to lower birth rates.

If you’re leading a brand today, you don’t need another AI pep talk that sounds like a toaster manual. You need someone who can name the real terrain: attention, relevance, speed, community, trust, talent and the macro forces behind demand. I am pleased to announce that Mark Schaefer will be joining me at SpeakersCon 2026 on Feb. 11, 2026, at SPACE, One Ayala, Makati.

For inquiries, email us at [email protected] or send us a direct message at facebook.com/SpeakersCon. Visit www.speakerscon.ph for details.)