With the 2025 Festival of Marketing (2 October) fast approaching, Marketing Week asked a selection of our speakers to share their advice on what marketers should stop, start and continue doing this year and beyond.
Stop fearing the future is a key piece of advice, while marketers are also urged to resist leaping on the latest piece of marketing dogma as the silver bullet solution and stop wasting time on activities with minimal reach.
Marketers are advised to start presenting as business leaders, connect the dots between their work and the wider commercial mission, and treat the recruitment process as a form of marketing.
When it comes to good practice, marketers are encouraged to stay glued to their customers, take responsibility for their own performance and build their brand.
Read our speakers’ advice in full below.
Grace Kite, Magic Numbers founder and Marketing Week columnist
Stop – reporting last click attribution numbers or making any decisions based on them. Stop presenting data without a headline that says what you should do with it.
Start – optimising your online content for LLM (large language model) crawlers. That means answering questions, providing comparisons and turning up on Reddit.
Continue – building your brand. It’s going to matter even more in future than it did in the past. Try calling it “building demand” if people think “brand” is too airy fairy.
Catch Grace on Stage 1: Effectiveness in Action (11am – 11.45am) discussing The Big Picture: The future of advertising effectiveness – ‘Lots’ or ‘Lots of little’?
Pete Markey, former Boots CMO and ISBA president
Stop – fearing the future. Whether that’s AI, new technologies or shifting customer expectations. Too often we hold back because of uncertainty, when in fact marketers should be the ones leading with confidence. It’s time to stop playing safe and instead step into the role of shaping what comes next.
Start – building plans and measurement that balance both the short and the long term. Growth comes from connecting brand building with commercial delivery, not treating them as separate worlds. At the same time, put customer understanding, creativity and innovation at the centre. Use new tools, data and technology to unlock fresh ideas, better experiences and lasting results.
Continue – championing marketing as a force for transformation inside organisations. When we step up to influence strategy, build trust and shape culture, we show that marketing isn’t just a support function – it’s a driver of business success and meaningful change in society.
Catch Pete’s session Why marketing is a force for transformation on Stage 3: The Future Marketer (3.45pm – 4.15pm)
Helen Edwards, author, consultant and Marketing Week columnist
Stop – leaping on the latest piece of marketing dogma and following it as ‘the only way to do marketing’. There is a wealth of great academic thinking out there, developed over the decades: Ehrenberg, Drucker, Keller, Kotler, Belk. Those who built on their foundations – Tim Ambler, Jennifer Aaker, Koen Pauwels, Byron Sharp, Giana Eckhardt… and many more. Embrace them all, apply them all.
Start – connecting the dots between every area of the business and marketing. How exactly does your latest social campaign help retain the price point and therefore the profit margin? Which areas of operations are underutilised? How leveraged is your business overall and what can marketing do to ease the pressure?
Continue – staying glued to your customers. Be curious, seek to understand and know more about the people who buy into your category today and who will be buying into it tomorrow.
Find Helen’s session Raise sights, reduce risks: Five techniques for finding that innovation sweet spot on Stage 2: Navigating Trends (12.45pm – 1.15pm)
Les Binet, effectiveness expert and founder of Binet Consulting
Stop – wasting time and money on activities that reach tiny audiences.
Start – to rediscover the importance of scale, advertising’s forgotten superpower.
Continue – to improve effectiveness and efficiency by testing and learning.
Catch Les on Stage 1: Effectiveness in Action (11am – 11.45am) discussing The Big Picture: The future of advertising effectiveness – ‘Lots’ or ‘Lots of little’?
Lauren Spearman, brand consultant, presenter and creator
Stop – treating social media as a role for junior marketers only. It’s a strategic channel that shapes brand perception, influences culture and drives engagement. Leverage senior marketers in this space to lend authority, shape thought leadership and amplify the brand’s voice to unlock greater impact.
Start – being transparent about salary. Recruitment is marketing, so being open about pay, progression and internal opportunities not only builds trust externally, but also signals to talent that your organisation values fairness and inclusion.
Continue – focusing on cross-functional collaboration. Marketing’s impact grows exponentially when it integrates with product, HR and customer experience, turning insights into campaigns that resonate and deliver measurable impact.
Check out Lauren’s session Work… in progress: Shaping a career that evolves with you on Stage 3: The Future Marketer (1.30pm – 2pm)
Sherilyn Shackell, founder and global CEO, The Marketing Academy
Stop – investing time and energy in people that suck you dry of both. Figure out who is truly important to you – in life, love and work – and invest the best of yourself into those relationships.
Start – being a business leader that happens to also be an expert in marketing. Become as aware of the dynamics and challenges facing the other functions in your business as you are about your own. This will enable you to use empathy, compassion and understanding to build trust, and increase your ability to influence.
Continue – to take responsibility for your own performance and success. It’s not your employer’s responsibility to develop or promote you. It’s your responsibility to show up as the best version of you, so that you are promotable. By always striving to be better, learn more, build on your skills, you’ll get that next step without having to ask for it.
Catch Sherilyn’s session Why marketing is a force for transformation on Stage 3: The Future Marketer (3.45pm – 4.15pm)
Sophie Miller, founder and director, Pretty Little Marketer
Stop – treating social media like a broadcast channel instead of a conversation space. There are too many brands still pushing out content without actually engaging with their community or responding to what people are saying.
Start – measuring brand sentiment and community health, not just reach and impressions. Understanding how people actually feel about your brand and whether you’re building genuine connections is far more valuable than vanity metrics.
Continue – investing in owned media and email lists as platforms become more unpredictable. Having control over your messaging without interference becomes more crucial when platforms can change everything overnight.
Catch Sophie’s session Perfecting your professional signature: How to develop a personal brand that stands out on Stage 6: Learning Lounge (11am – 11.45am)
The Festival of Marketing will take place on 2 October at The Brewery, London. Click here to secure your ticket.
