In customer-centric companies, all boardroom conversations start from, or lead back to, marketing.

 

Executive teams are charged with driving long-term shareholder value, and to that end there should be two priorities: driving growth, and fostering talent to enable growth.

 

Firms that systematically drive shareholder value make better decisions about how to drive growth. This is marketing, and it should hold the key to understanding the customer mindset and unlocking the opportunities that mindset presents. 

 

The days of separate discussions on business strategy and marketing must end. It’s all about growth.