A b-to-b wish list for the next five years

摘要

The past five years have been rough for business-to-business marketing. We've seen the penchant to cut, cut, cut, and the emergence of "finance and control" in charge to the extent that marketing and innovation are marginalized and distorted. As a result, firms are leaner and meaner than ever before, with employees running two and three jobs at a time—achieving extraordinarily high levels of productivity but facing an uncertain future. So rather than a retrospective, I'd rather talk about a wish list: Here are some things I'd like to see in the next five years.