Oliver Kimberley:
We wanted to start with a reflection: Why does marketing feel so difficult right now?
We hear this every day. It’s not just a perception. It’s a reality, and we’re going to offer a structured framework to approach it. Toward the end, we’ll also share tips you can apply immediately. Then we’ll wrap with Q&A.
For those unfamiliar, Quad is a 50+-year-old company offering full-spectrum marketing services — from data and media to production and creative. We work with over 2,100 brands across industries. That broad exposure gives us a unique view across which informs how we think about scalable marketing operations and process development.
George Forge:
It’s especially exciting when we can take something that works in one vertical and apply it to another — for instance, how wine and spirits companies manage ordering windows, and how that applies in hospitality or QSR.
Oliver Kimberley:
This is one of my favorite quotes and graphics to show how complicated marketing has become.
It’s not fun — it’s chaotic. More channels, more touchpoints, faster execution, tighter budgets, smaller teams and economic uncertainty.
We want to help marketing leaders navigate these challenges by focusing on marketing operations — sometimes called marketing execution. We’re using the familiar framework: People, process and technology. But we want to challenge that order.
George Forge:
Yes, marketers love things that roll off the tongue, but we believe you should start with process development. AI can automate and optimize a lot — but only if the underlying marketing operations strategy is sound. So: