Marketing may be going through turbulent times, but the industry should consider that a gift according to Magnus Djaba, global president and UK CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi.

Speaking at the School of Marketing’s inaugural event for its Founding 50 ambassadors last month, Djaba stressed that the turbulence coursing through the current market is not the biggest danger to marketing in 2019. Actually the problem is trying to apply yesterday’s logic rather than fostering new ideas and fresh thinking that challenges the status quo.

Djaba, who is a member of the School of Marketing advisory board, said he expects future leaders to come from industries that do not even exist yet, but wherever they come from these people must be drawn from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds.

Reflecting on his own experience growing up on a London council estate to becoming head of one of the world’s biggest creative agencies, Djaba expressed genuine concern for the future of agencies given the “fundamental danger” posed by the lack of socio-economic diversity.

When you explain that the skills of marketing are absolutely inherent to [business] success, you see the lights go on and they get excited.
Nishma Robb, Google
“It has got nothing to do with the proliferation of media channels. It’s got nothing to do with the challenges of ‘frenemies’ who are both media owners and content creators. It’s got nothing to do with the challenges of data. Actually, they can help creativity in so many different ways,” he stated.

“But it is definitely to do with the fact that we do not pay people a lot to start in this industry. That bothers me. It’s a challenge, because what it means is the working class people we saw come into this industry in the 1970s are gone and it’s going the other way because in order to afford to live in central London you have to have come from a certain background to get paid that sort of money.”

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.marketingweek.com