"Estonia has many strong companies with quality products and skilled teams. Yet many of them hit a growth plateau at some point," writes Andreas Unt in a piece submitted to the Tark Turundus opinion competition.
In domestic companies, the marketing budget averages 3.2% of revenue. The global average is 7.7%. In Estonia, the largest share, 48%, goes into advertising, while only 15% goes into brand. Our companies seem to live six months at a time and don't think about long-term growth. CEOs' horizon is very close, and they can't see the forest for the trees.
A major barrier is the lack of a marketing mindset at the leadership level. When marketing isn't part of management, good growth ideas get shot down, and companies end up hoping that organic market demand will grow on its own and that customers will find their way to them.
The problem: growth decisions are made on gossip, not knowledge
In my work, I've met hundreds of CEOs. The will to grow is there, but their understanding of marketing is often superficial. In meetings, you often hear claims like:
- Who even opens newsletters these days?"
- "TikTok is only for young people."
- "We tried Facebook ads, but they didn't work."
- "How much sales did that one social media post actually bring in?"
These claims aren't based on data. They're impressions. When strategy is shaped and budgets are set based on impressions like these, real development isn't possible. That's how growth ideas end up shot down — simply because they're not understood. The necessary background knowledge and terminology to understand them are missing, and no logical connection forms with the business vision.
Why is this the case?
A large number of today's decision-makers started their businesses at a time when there was little competition and demand came on its own. During that period, an understanding took hold that marketing is more of a cost than a source of revenue.
In addition, a significant share of leaders have risen to the top from finance or production backgrounds. As a result, optimization sits at the center of their management approach: how to do more with less. Viljar Arakas has said: "People who've grown into company leaders through finance run the company through the balance sheet. My first job was as a salesman, and I've run my company my whole life on the principle that tomorrow's revenue has to be bigger than yesterday's."
The reason every marketing activity gets tied back to sales is simply that the whole marketing chain isn't visible. If a store in a shopping center isn't selling, it wouldn't occur to the CEO to call the store clerk on the carpet. They'd sooner wonder whether the shopping center is actually in a good location. They're able to see more cause-and-effect relationships there.
The consequence: growth goes unachieved
When marketing decisions are made on the basis of gappy understanding, the company ends up: a) dependent on price competition; b) vulnerable to swings in demand; c) invisible in international markets. Marketing isn't ordering ads. It's shaping the market, taking a position, and creating demand. It's a management decision, not a single tactical action.
Solutions: growing marketing-savvy leadership
The goal isn't to criticize leaders. The goal is to create an environment where marketing thinking is a natural part of strategy. For that, we need a broad-based approach.
1. Marketing education aimed at CEOs
TalTech, EBS, or universities' micro-credentials and development programs could offer a clearly defined course, for example called "Marketing for CEOs." The program would cover the fundamentals of marketing that growing companies rely on — things like "Les Binet's short-term and long-term effects" or "Byron Sharp's distinctive brand assets." It would give CEOs the key pillars of knowledge they need to make better-informed growth decisions.
2. Highlighting marketing-savvy CEOs
Public role models shape attitudes. The Kuldmuna award's "Contribution to Estonian Marketing" recognition given to A. Le Coq's former CEO, Tarmo Noop, was a good step, and more stories like it are needed. For example, Uku Tomikas's role in Messente's repeated growth, or Jaanus Vihand's co-creation with Coop's marketing department, deserve wider coverage. These are success stories where a marketing-savvy CEO was an active participant in marketing, and it led to record-breaking profits.
3. Making the mathematical side of marketing visible
Marketing isn't just creativity and intuition. It's interpreting data, managing probabilities, and modeling return on investment. When leaders can see the links between marketing activities and business growth, an understanding of marketing's role takes hold, and the budgets needed for growth increase.
Call to action: let's raise the level of marketing thinking together
Marketers can't be resentful that leaders don't understand marketing. We can't assume the average CEO grasps the subject without it being genuinely explained to them. It's marketers' role to educate, explain, and provide examples — to put in the extra hours creating instructive presentations for their own CEO, book summaries, and talking through effective case studies from elsewhere in the world.
Here in Estonia, we have many products whose quality doesn't fall short of the world's best. For us to compete with the top players, marketing has to become a natural part of how Estonian organizations are managed. When CEOs understand marketing's role in growth, Estonia's economy benefits.
Let's bring smart marketing into the mindset of every Estonian CEO.
