Marketing in 2016 is harder than ever.

 
I clearly remember carefully crafting brochures in the 1990s as our number one marketing effort. Today, technology, including social media, has changed everything. We still have brochures (in the increasingly rare cases where that makes sense), but now we have hundreds of other opportunities, from Facebook posts to ad retargeting to beacons.

I spoke with Ted Rubin during the Brand Innovators event in Austin in March and asked him one simple question: What's your biggest reason for optimism around marketing in 2016, and what's your biggest source of frustration. Ok, that's really two questions. If there's a person who talks to more brand leaders every year than Ted Rubin, I'd like to meet him. So take a listen to what Ted said:

But what frustrates Ted is that it's taking too long to get there. Why? Companies are built around structures that support traditional marketing and traditional communications, but the box has busted open. As a result, brands that want to transform are taking a longer time than it would be ideal to really get there.

Do you see both sides of the coin? How is it where you work? Tell us what you think about this situation in the comments below, or reach out to us on social media.