Why Marketing Must Move Beyond Its Crisis of Confidence: Mark Given

It is a rare privilege in any career to stand in a room shaped by history. A sentiment that felt somewhat resonant at the ISBA President’s Lunch and President’s Awards, held at The Dorchester Hotel in London on 1 July.

For Mark Given, chief technology, marketing and data Officer at Sainsbury’s, delivering his inaugural address as President of ISBA, that sense of legacy is doubled: both the 126-year story of ISBA itself and the 157-year heritage of Sainsbury’s. But his message was clear from the outset: heritage is not a guarantee of relevance.

Instead, Given frames history as a tool, not a comfort blanket. The past, he suggests, is useful only in so far as it sharpens present judgement. From wartime rationing to the early introduction of now-everyday products, he draws a line through decades of disruption to show that change is not new to marketers, and that only the pace and complexity have evolved.

That perspective frames his central contention: that marketing today is not constrained by a lack of tools, data or channels, but by something more intangible - a quiet erosion of confidence. Where once the discipline helped set the agenda for growth, he suggests it now too often finds itself having to explain its place within it.

Against that backdrop, his speech becomes both a challenge and a reframing: a call to stop looking back to a “golden age” of marketing, and instead recognise that the current era shaped by technology, AI, and shifting consumer trust may be the most strategically important yet.

The full speech can be read in full below.

Mark Given, ISBA President’s Lunch 2026

I am incredibly honoured to be joining you today as President of ISBA.

I am standing in the shoes of the marketing greats, who have held this role before me. I have it on good authority, that I am now the 49th President in ISBA’s incredible 126-year history.

Like ISBA, Sainsbury’s has been in business for a long time, 157 years in fact.

It is a privilege to be part of two organisations with such legacies, but ISBA like Sainsbury’s cannot and is not resting on its laurels.

Having a long history is something to be proud of but you cannot rely on the past to ensure you remain relevant and vital for your customers today and in the future.

Instead, I like to think that key moments in our story provide us with reference points. Ones that might offer an insight or spark a thought that inform the decisions we make today to deliver future success.

As Simon [Michaelides, ISBA director general] said earlier, we are operating in a period of unprecedented change, but we need to keep in mind that throughout history marketers have always operated in challenging and volatile environments.

At Sainsbury’s I am a Trustee of the Sainsbury’s Archive which we jointly run with the fifth generation of the Sainsbury’s family. It means I get to dig out and read the annual Sainsbury’s Brand Review and the board minutes from the last 80 years.

In there you find great nuggets like the week one sales figures for avocados when we first introduced them in 1962 or the huge board debate on whether we should update our packaging with cooking instructions for a new-fangled device called the microwave. It also lets me see and take inspiration from how previous leaders in my position handled multiple crisis in nearly every generation of our history.

Change is a constant and the ability to navigate change is an essential skill for any CMO.

At this point I will use one of those historical reference points I mentioned to illustrate my point.

The outbreak of war in 1914.

As a supermarket, the ability to source food to put on the shelves is fundamental. So, when the First World War broke out and food supplies dwindled Sainsbury’s faced a major challenge. Whilst those with money could afford to pay higher prices to secure the limited food available, the working families could not, and these were some of Sainsbury’s most valued customers.

Sainsbury’s identified the need to allocate essentials more fairly and played a key role in the establishment of rationing. Throughout the conflict and the second World War too, they established their own internal rationing departments, and their administrative efficiency was so impressive that even government local food offices often relied on Sainsbury’s for guidance.

It was an approach that demonstrated how much Sainsbury’s valued all of its customers, These decisions made during a time of fear, uncertainty and sacrifice, strengthened Sainsburys brand because they took a long-term view and understood what their customers needed.

There are many other examples of how marketers have adapted to change and in doing so made their businesses stronger.

For me, the significant difference between marketing now and marketing over the last hundred plus years is that marketing today seems to be facing a crisis of confidence.

I hear a lot of hand wringing about marketing and advertising not being what they used to be, and we have a habit of looking back at the so-called golden age of marketing and wishing things were like that now.

Yes, the budgets were big, the creative was big and the lunches in Soho were often long and liquid. It is indisputable that the mid-1960s to the late 1980s were when many iconic campaigns were created.

Brands built personalities that resonated with their customers and became household names. UK advertising grew a global reputation of excellence.

But was it really a golden age for marketing? Not if you were a woman, the role of CMO was almost exclusively held by men during the entire period. Now if you went to a state school, the chances of getting on the marketing career ladder were non-existent. These roles were given to ex-officers who had served in the war and their public school, Oxbridge educated children.

Measuring effectiveness was an incredibly slow process handled by expert statisticians, vastly different from the real time feedback marketers have at their fingertips today.

I personally believe that there has never been a better time to work in marketing. The role is endlessly fascinating, dynamic and ideally provides a career full of opportunity.

It is a discipline that allows different points of view and perspectives; in fact, those are a vital requirement.

There are so many tools, channels, levers at the marketer’s disposal. It is more challenging than ever and budgets are hard won, but it challenges you to be more innovative than ever.

I’m not blind to the fact that for many the current economic climate means job insecurity and even redundancy. And like many parents I worry what the job market will be like in three-to-four years time for my son who has just finished his A-Levels and will hopefully be off to University this September.

But I do think there is also room for a more positive narrative, where we navigate the next few years of disruption and harness technology and AI to build our brands, make things better for our customers and have a more positive impact on society and the planet we live in.

Brands matter now more than ever. An ever-increasing number of potential customers are using AI to search for recommendations and advice. The Algorithms’ need for consensus and defensible responses means strong trusted brands with a consistently positive reputation and wide-reaching online presence, dominate search results.

Yet, this reality is not translating into widespread optimism for marketing.

Marketing’s influence on boards is diminishing. Marketing budgets are under more and more scrutiny, and the skill and expertise of the CMO and their team is often undervalued.

While CMOs often have ownership of their martech stack, other critical tech decisions which all impact your customers, are being made without the CMO in the room.

Being a marketing leader is ultimately about setting the growth agenda of the business. That is found at the intersection of customer insight, commercial strategy and the value your brand can create for customers.

The principles of marketing have not changed, the ‘P’s’ of the marketing mix are still core concepts. In a recent FT article on the changing role of the CMO, Simon Michaelides gave the following comment that really gets to the point.

‘Marketing has always been a blend of art and science. The tension between the maths and magic isn’t a weakness of the CMO role – it’s the strength of it.’

So my challenge to you is let’s put marketing back on the top table in every business and end this crisis of confidence? In many instances that means we need to get stuck in and add commercial and financial skills to our repertoires.

Whether it is creating a compelling business case for a balanced approach to growth or adopting new technology with the goal of delivering a better customer experience we need to remain passionate about our brands and customers but learn the language of the boardroom to flex our arguments to the range of decision makers we encounter.

I am not just talking about my fellow marketers here today.

Everyone in this room has a key role to play if we are going to change the narrative. If you’ll excuse my paraphrasing, it takes a village to raise a CMO.

2026 ISBA President’s Awards

Mark Given also announced the winners of the 2026 ISBA President’s Awards. Director General Simon Michaelides announced Channel 4 as the first recipient of the new Director General’s Award.

The President’s Award winners were recognised for their support of ISBA and their contribution to the organisation’s key priorities.

This year’s winners are:

- Tom Chard, Media and Campaign Planning Lead, Tesco

Tom has played a leading role in advancing inclusion and accessibility across the industry. As co-chair of ISBA’s Inclusion Network, he has supported ISBA’s work and the Unstereotype Alliance, while continuing to champion accessible advertising through the Ad Accessibility Network.

- Lisa Walker, Head of Three, Value Brands, Retail and Loyalty, VodafoneThree

Lisa chaired ISBA’s Media Leaders Group for nine years while serving on ISBA’s Executive Committee. A respected voice across the industry, she has generously shared her experience and insight with fellow ISBA members.

- Nicki Brown, Director of Media, BBC

Nicki has made a significant contribution to ISBA as an active participant and chair of two member groups. Through her contributions on stage and in writing, she shares valuable real-world experience with fellow members and sets a strong example through her commitment to ISBA.

- Peter Rowe, Formerly Head of Media, NatWest Group

As Chair of ISBA’s TV Group, Peter has shown a strong commitment to advancing advertisers’ interests. Drawing on his breadth of expertise, he has represented ISBA at industry conferences and championed Origin’s adoption at every opportunity.

Commenting on the winners, ISBA President Mark Given said: “These awards recognise individual members who have made a significant contribution to ISBA’s priorities and acted as ambassadors for wider industry initiatives.”

The Director General’s Award has been introduced to recognise an organisation that has made a significant contribution to ISBA’s priorities and wider industry initiatives.

The inaugural award was presented to Channel 4 for its work supporting advertisers to deliver authentic, effective and inclusive advertising.

Channel 4 has helped marketers better understand and create representative advertising, while supporting positive change across UK advertising as an engaged member of ISBA’s Ad Accessibility Taskforce.

This year, it went further by introducing the Accessible Ads Mandate, requiring all advertising on its platform to meet accessibility standards.

Commenting on the inaugural Director General’s Award, ISBA Director General Simon Michaelides said: “This is a way to celebrate one of our member organisations that has made a significant contribution over the year and brought real change for the benefit of our industry. Channel 4’s Accessible Ads Mandate is a watershed moment, moving the dial from aspiration to obligation and setting a new benchmark for what the industry can and should expect of advertisers.”