What distinguishes companies that successfully use marketing as a strategic tool from those that view it solely as a sales enabler?
Simon Sinek’s oft-quoted statement, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it,” is ubiquitous in conversation, but rarely fully understood. In today’s market, it actually speaks to the essence of competitiveness.
If we look at Kantar’s latest edition of the BrandZ Global 2025 research, we see that the fastest-growing brands achieve up to 2–3 times greater value growth precisely because they manage to build what Kantar calls “meaningful difference” – a combination of relevance and uniqueness in consumer perception. In other words, it is not those who are the loudest who win, but those who have a clear reason for their existence, and who consistently live it.
Here we come to a key difference. Companies that use marketing strategically do not start with the product, but with the role they want to play in people’s lives. They understand that the market is no longer an arena of information, but an arena of perception. Their marketing is not a reaction to business decisions, but a tool with which those decisions are shaped.
That's why such companies include marketing early, often at the board level. It becomes a mechanism for making decisions about portfolio, pricing, user experience, and even where the company should play. Marketing in this context becomes a compass.
On the other hand, companies that view marketing as supporting sales enter the process too late. Their focus remains on how to say something, instead of why it exists in the first place. And this is where the key problem arises: when marketing comes at the end of the process, it can optimize visibility, but it cannot create real value.
In practice, this means that the first companies build long-term platforms that can be developed over time, while the second produces a series of campaigns that are quickly forgotten. The first manage perception, the second manage budget.
And perhaps most importantly, the first understand that competitiveness today is not built only through what the company does, but through what people believe it means.
What are the most common mistakes that companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina make in their approach to marketing?
The most common mistake is short-termism. Marketing is still often viewed through the prism of a campaign, and not through the prism of building value. The focus is on what will happen this month, instead of what will remain in three years.
The second mistake is the misunderstanding of the brand as a business tool. The brand is often reduced to a visual identity or tone of communication, rather than a framework for decision-making. Without that framework, companies very easily enter into contradictions, lose consistency and become interchangeable.
The third, perhaps the most profound, is the illusion that visibility and frequency are the same as influence. In an era when content is everywhere, it is not enough to be present, you need to be relevant. And relevance cannot be bought with a budget, but is built by understanding the context and people.
In the local context, an additional challenge is caution when investing in strategy. The intangible is often skipped, and this is where the difference between average and exceptional arises.
How do you see the development of marketing in the coming years and what should companies focus on now?
Marketing is entering a phase in which technical excellence will be taken for granted, and the real difference will be made at the level of meaning. The tools are becoming available to everyone, but the ability to build a relevant and authentic position is becoming rarer.
We are all seeing the accelerated integration of data, technology and creativity. However, the key will not be who has more data, but who better understands it and turns it into decisions that make sense to people. Automation will solve efficiency, but it won't solve brand truth. Companies should focus on three things right now.
First, on the clarity of one's own position. In a world where everyone can communicate, the question is no longer who has the voice, but who has what to say.
Second, to an organizational culture that understands marketing as a shared responsibility, not an isolated function. The best strategies are created where there is alignment between what the company does and what it says.
Third, to long-term thinking. The brands that survive are not those that constantly seek attention, but those that build trust.
Ultimately, marketing returns to its roots as a discipline of understanding, not just a tool of persuasion. Companies that realize this in time will have an advantage that is difficult to catch up with.
