By Evans MALLET
“Some say marketing is just a department. Others say it’s a function. But those who understand it… know it’s the soul of business itself.”
Act I: In the beginning… there was business
A long time ago, before algorithms and automation, before click-through rates and TikTok influencers, business was simple. A man had a product, and another had a need. The transaction between them, whether it was barter or coin, was the heartbeat of commerce.
But marketing? Marketing was the conversation before the transaction. The storytelling, the positioning, the “why you need this” whispered or shouted before the sale. Marketing, you see, has always been there. Silent, yet essential.
It is the way businesses communicate value, and where communication lives, so too does influence. In its earliest days, marketing was personal. It was the town crier. The market stall’s loudest voice. The printed ad in a dusty newspaper. It was intuition over data. Emotion over optimization.
Act II: The evolution of influence
Fast-forward through the Industrial Revolution, and marketing began to evolve. The 20th century brought structure. Strategy. Psychology. From broadcast media in the golden radio age, to the TV commercials that shaped minds in the ’50s and ’60s, marketing moved from shouting to shaping.
By the 1980s and 1990s, big business had learned to treat marketing as a strategic pillar. Brands became icons, Nike, Apple, Coca-Cola, not because they sold products, but because they sold meanings. Identity.
Lifestyle. Still, the core of marketing was largely outsourced. Creative agencies made the TV spots. Research firms ran focus groups. Media planners booked the spaces. Marketing, though powerful, was fragmented, many parts, few masters.
Then… the internet happened.
Act III: Twenty years ago… and the now
Two decades ago, marketing stood at a crossroads. Traditional advertising still reigned, but digital was a rising tide. In 2005, social media was still a toddler. Facebook had just opened its gates beyond college campuses. Google AdWords was barely five years old. Most businesses still thought of their websites as online brochures.
Back then, marketing was slower. Campaigns took weeks, if not months. TV, radio, and billboards were dominant. Data was scarce. Insights were fuzzy. And the customer? The customer was mostly passive. Today… the customer leads. Modern marketing is an ecosystem. Real-time. Personalized. Always on. Powered by platforms, driven by data, and obsessed with performance. AI can write headlines. Influencers can move millions. A teenager on TikTok can sell out a product in hours.
And still, the game is changing again.
Act IV: The catalysts of change
Technology has been the great accelerator. But the real catalysts? Let’s name them:
- Data democratization: Every click, view, and swipe is measurable.
- Smartphone penetration: The whole world is now reachable in your palm.
- Social media: A voice for the voiceless, and a megaphone for brands.
- AI & automation: Predictive models, personalization, and content generation at scale.
- Decentralized attention: The consumer now controls what they see, when they see it, and why they care.
In the next 10 years, marketing won’t just be digital, it will be intelligent. Hyper-contextual. Voice-first. Immersive. It won’t be about what we say to people, it’ll be about what we know before we speak.
Act V: Ghana, The beating heart of a rising story
And now, we bring it home. Ghana. A country rich in culture, youth, and ambition. A marketplace where digital is growing, but traditional still holds weight. Where radio and billboards dance beside Instagram and Twitter. Where MTN mobile ads meet TikTok skits from Kumasi.
What’s going right?
- Youth engagement: Ghana’s young creators are digital-native, global in outlook.
- Mobile-first adoption: With mobile internet widespread, access is no longer the problem.
- Localized creativity: Ghanaian campaigns are increasingly authentic, rooted in cultural truth.
- Startup innovation: Fintech, e-commerce, agritech, new brands are thinking digital-first.
But here’s what’s left…
- Strategy gaps: Many brands still chase trends, not long-term value.
- Skills lag: Digital marketing expertise, especially in analytics and automation, is still developing.
- Outdated metrics: Too many marketers still measure outputs instead of outcomes.
- Underfunded marketing departments: Marketing is often treated as a cost, not an investment.
Final Act: A word to the CEO, From the strategist’s chair
If I were sitting across the table from you, CEO to strategist, I’d say this: “Marketing is no longer a support system. It’s a growth engine. And in a noisy, distracted world, brands that win are the ones that connect, not the loudest, but the clearest.”
We must evolve beyond campaigns. Beyond posts. Marketing professionals today must become business translators, fluent in customer behavior, technology, creative, and data. We must build in-house intelligence. Marry strategy to storytelling. Train teams not just in tools, but in thinking. And you, the CEO, must make marketing a boardroom priority, not just for awareness, but for acceleration.
Because the future of marketing in Ghana, and across Africa, is not about catching up to the world. It’s about leapfrogging it. And that… is the business of marketing. “In the end, marketing is not just about selling more. It’s about meaning more. To more people. More often. And for the better.”
>>>the writer is a strategic marketing professional who partners with multinational brands to rethink growth, accelerate performance, and win in competitive markets. With a strong foundation in strategy, he helps organizations align marketing with clear business outcomes. Passionate about Africa’s potential, Evans is especially focused on how business leaders identify and act on emerging opportunities across the continent. He can be reached via [email protected]
