The hardest thing in marketing

Why defining marketing is harder than doing it.

Oct 31, 2025

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I’ve spent more than a decade building and growing companies, and for this very first issue, I want to talk about what I believe is the hardest thing in marketing.

I know what you’re thinking… Your mind probably goes to attribution, incrementality, or marketing mix models.

But no, the hardest thing in marketing is defining what marketing actually is.

If you ask 100 marketers what marketing is, you’ll get 100 different answers. And they’ll probably all be right, in their own way.

A brief history of marketing

To better understand what marketing is today, I need to take you back in time.

The first time the term marketing is known to have been used dates back to the mid-1500s.

Yet, it’s only in the 1900s that marketing started to develop, as we know it today. In the early 1900s, as universities began to study it, marketing evolved into an academic discipline focused on how goods moved from producers to consumers. Back then, it simply meant taking goods to market, hence “market-ing”. It was about distribution and logistics, as opposed to persuasion or creativity.

In 1931, Paul D. Converse, a founding father of marketing studies, wrote that “Marketing is about getting goods and services from the hands of producers into the hands of final consumers.”

Thirty years later, E. Jerome McCarthy defined it as “the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from the producer to the consumer or user to better satisfy consumers and achieve company objectives.”

Then came the modern era. In 1983, Philip Kotler, the father of modern marketing, reframed it as “a human activity aimed at satisfying needs and desires through exchange processes.”

Seth Godin later added a human and empathetic layer: “Marketing is the generous act of helping someone solve a problem. Their problem. Marketing helps others become who they seek to become.”

David Ogilvy believed marketing was a balance of creative flair and research. To him, effective advertising combined insight and persuasion, art and science.

And in 2017, the American Marketing Association defined it as “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

Why it’s so hard to define

Because marketing is a discipline that spans both art and science. And it’s in continuous evolution.

Every new technology, platform, and consumer behavior changes what marketing is. Each generation redefines it without ever fully replacing the old meaning.

Marketing involves understanding people deeply, aligning company strategy with human needs, and building systems that turn that understanding into sustainable growth.

It’s both art and math. Creativity and data. Short-term performance and long-term brand equity.

What once meant simply selling and distributing goods has grown into a discipline that touches every part of business and society. It’s about creating value, shaping perception, and driving growth through understanding.

And this is why I love marketing today. I remember studying it in college, it felt like fluff, which is why I switched to finance (another story for another day). But once I understood how many opportunities there are to blend data with art, I fell in love with it again.

My definition

After spending my entire career in marketing and growth, here’s how I define it today:

Marketing is the discipline of creating and capturing demand by connecting what a company offers with what people value. It turns strategy into growth by blending analytical precision with creative intuition.

Your turn

Now I’ll turn the question to you.
What’s your definition of marketing?

Share your perspective in the comments or reply directly to this email. I’d love to hear it.

Growth Beyond Reach

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