Marketing isn’t broken, ownership Is
Marketing gets blamed for a lot.
Leads slow down.
Sales feel unpredictable.
Momentum fades.
The conclusion is usually the same: marketing isn’t working.
But most of the time, marketing isn’t the issue.
The false diagnosis
When results dip, businesses look for fixes:
new campaigns
new platforms
new agencies
new tools
The assumption is that output is lacking.
In reality, what’s missing is ownership.
Strategy lives in one place.
Execution sits somewhere else.
Systems are added later, if at all.
Everyone contributes.
No one is accountable for the full outcome.
What “shared responsibility” actually creates
On paper, shared responsibility sounds sensible.
In practice, it creates gaps.
Handover moments where intent gets diluted.
Delays caused by approvals and dependencies.
Conversations about scope instead of performance.
Defensiveness when results fall short.
Nothing here is malicious.
It’s structural.
Each party does their job well.
The system as a whole never quite works.
The reality for growing South Wales businesses
We see this consistently with growing businesses across South Wales. From teams in Swansea and Cardiff to established companies across Carmarthenshire.
Marketing effort is high.
Activity is visible.
But ownership is fragmented.
Work is outsourced in parts.
Responsibility is split.
Results never fully compound.
The cost of no single owner
When no one owns the full loop:
optimisation slows
the same problems repeat
learnings don’t stack
Marketing becomes busy instead of effective.
The work continues.
The growth stalls.
Not loudly.
Quietly.
What ownership actually changes
When one team owns outcomes, everything shifts.
Decisions happen faster.
Systems connect by default.
Feedback loops tighten.
Performance compounds over time.
Marketing stops being debated.
It becomes dependable.
Less explaining.
Less chasing.
Fewer “that’s not in scope” moments.
Why structure matters more than effort