Arguably, we are evolving out of the social media panacea world to social media fatigue. Low click-through-rates, little e-commerce results, and splintered channels likely make CEOs and CFOs returning to a perspective that marketing is a cost centre, not a new customer, revenue generator.

But one definition of marketing is "to create a customer". Let's get the internal focus on this; the important stuff.

Before Clients had marketing departments, advertising agencies fulfilled that role. It all began with an idea: "I want to teach the world the world to sing, in perfect harmony,.."; "The King of Beers" ( and yes we were in the room when that idea emerged), the list goes on. But you need to connect marketing to the business now more than ever.

Marketing can harness the ears and insights of all the functions of marketing e.g. insights, event planners, promotional teams, P.R.. Corp Comms., etc., to bring back the human, the customer, the stakeholders, back into the feed of insights, product & service ideas.

Every facet, every department, every employee, every ex-employee, every event, every community or CSR activity you implement drives reputation and therefore "good will" on the 10K and balance sheet - true company valuation. Reputation has value on the stock market.

Marketing can elevate the conversation from a cost centre to harnessing the power of all of marketing's tools to drive reputational value.