Marketing leaders highlight key trends at Global Marketer Week 2025

Little surprise that AI was most often mentioned but high on the list of priorities were also how data and insights are being used and how marketers need to double down on the marketing fundamentals.

Referring to WFA Marketer of the Future research launched on April 20, many intimated that marketers had got carried away with the ‘shiny and new’ of new tech to the detriment of the basic marketing fundamentals of strategy, positioning, objectives, KPIs, measuring your results and so on. Others also reminded marketers of the need to maintain authenticity by remaining true to yourself and what your brand stands for.

“I think the message is that this is a remarkable time of change but there’s also remarkable optimism. You can feel the energy in the room, everybody's learning a lot, everybody's excited about the future and all the challenges” said Chief Brand Officer at Allwyn and new WFA President David Wheldon.

For former president and Mastercard Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Raja Rajamannar, the big message is that “we have to invest time and effort to learn everything about artificial intelligence, enough to be able to leverage it for our marketing, without that you'll get eliminated very quickly and become very obsolete.”

While AI was seen as the main trend among those interviewed, the tone varied. “We are data rich and insight poor,” suggested Diana Frost, Global Chief Growth Officer at Kraft Heinz. Meanwhile Rupen Desai, Venture Partner at Una Terra, reinforced “it is us as brand builders and marketers that need to be driving AI.”

Peter Hinssen, Co-founder at Nexxworks, explained the impact of the change “AI is reshaping the balance between brands and agencies” but for success it needed to be “combined with the fundamentals of marketing” noted Wheldon.

The theme of focusing on the fundamentals of marketing was reinforced in an interview with Seth Godin who delivered a keynote at the conference. Marketers need to take a step back so that they can “see the systems and use the opportunity we have to make a difference.” said the well-known blogger, entrepreneur and founder of the Carbon Almanac.

He went on to remind brands struggling to navigate culture wars that "the purpose of culture isn't to enable capitalism; the goal of capitalism is to enable culture. The goal is simply to help people see who they are and what they are capable of doing.”