As fractional chief marketing officers working across South Africa and internationally, we have the privilege of helping organisations build, fix, and scale their marketing and communications functions.
What stands out most as we reflect on the work we executed over the past year, is that while marketing tools and technologies are evolving at unprecedented speed, the fundamentals of strategy, leadership, and patience to get to a world class marketing product, remain as important as ever.
Here are five key trends we’ve seen shaping the marketing landscape.
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The ongoing tension between in-house and outsourced marketing
One of the most consistent challenges organisations face is deciding how to structure their marketing capability. Our clients often ask us for advice on this. Many oscillate between building a full in-house team and outsourcing entirely to agencies or freelancers.
In-house offers control, culture fit, and day-to-day responsiveness, but it’s expensive and often lacks the breadth of specialist skills needed to deliver at scale. Fully outsourced models can deliver efficiencies, but without clear leadership they tend to lose coherence and accountability.
One of our most valued clients had a single marketing resource who was running a fully outsourced marketing powerhouse. The work was exceptional, but she was so stretched, she could only focus on execution. She had no one to manage suppliers or do tactical work, meaning she could never do any of the strategic work that was expected of her.
The middle ground structure seems to be proving most sustainable: small, strategic in-house teams supported by fractional senior leadership who can augment strategic thinking as well as source and manage third party suppliers for execution. This hybrid structure allows for both consistency and agility, and it is where we are seeing the best results.
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A persistent gap in strategic marketing thinking
Start-ups and scale-ups struggle to connect marketing strategy with business goals. Too often, they rely on agencies to bridge the gap. However, while agencies excel at being clearly briefed for delivery, they are rarely positioned to lead the commercial thinking behind it, especially in B2B.
The result is fragmentation: good campaigns that don’t ladder up to growth. What’s missing is senior marketing leadership who can translate vision into structure, align teams around clear goals, and ensure every activity is maximised.
This is precisely where the fractional CMO model continues to prove its worth, offering strategic direction without the cost of a full-time executive. The worst feedback we have ever received: “I wish I had known about your services a year ago.” Bringing in a fractional CMO, in whatever format, right from the start will elevate your marketing game and ensure you progress down the right path.
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AI and automation are reshaping marketing, but time still matters
There’s no denying that AI has changed marketing. Campaigns are executed faster, analytics are sharper, and creative tools are more accessible than ever. But alongside this acceleration, a quiet truth remains: quality marketing still takes time.
AI is not a shortcut to excellence. It can optimise processes, but it cannot replicate human insight, instinct, or craft. The same applies to websites and brand ecosystems. Despite AI design tools, templates, and automated content systems, building something world-class and truly authentic still demands patience, clarity, and human oversight.
Recently, a new supplier promised they could build a website in 48 hours. We took a breath and waited to see if they could deliver on this ambitious promise. Has automation and AI really progressed this far? Five weeks later we were still building the website, massaging it to align with the CI, making tweaks and pushing it to a world class standard.
The best-performing organisations are those that use technology to enhance human thinking, not replace it.
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Measurement maturity is still lagging
Even as data dashboards multiply, few organisations are measuring what truly matters. Many remain stuck tracking vanity metrics like clicks and impressions rather than the numbers that drive decisions: acquisition cost, pipeline health, retention, and lifetime value.
The next evolution in marketing will hinge on measurement maturity. Integrating marketing data with sales and business intelligence is where real insights emerge.
Leaders who understand this shift are turning marketing from a cost centre into a growth driver.
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The rise of fractional leadership
One of the most defining shifts in the professional landscape has been the rise of fractional models, particularly in marketing, finance, and technology. In South Africa, the concept of the fractional CMO is still in its infancy.
Businesses no longer need to choose between experience and affordability. Fractional leaders bring decades of expertise, working across industries and companies, to provide strategic depth without the full-time overhead. Marketing management is seeing a total reinvention.
This approach has allowed growing businesses to access high-level thinking, governance, and leadership while remaining nimble, efficient, and focused on outcomes. It is not just a resourcing model; it represents a mindset shift towards smarter, more scalable leadership.
Closing reflections
The marketing world is evolving fast, but not always in the ways we expect. Speed, automation, and efficiency are valuable, but without clarity, strategy, and patience, they are hollow.
Our clients who have been successful this year are those that balance both. They leverage new technologies while staying rooted in fundamentals. They think before they act, they measure what matters, and they invest in the people who know how to connect dots, not just deliver tasks.
Marketing, at its core, is still about meaning. The tools may change, but the discipline of thinking deeply before moving, remains timeless.
Brigitta Long is founder and fractional chief marketing officer at Stardust Global. Stardust Global is a consultancy that offers fractional marketing and communications services to organisations who require strategic leadership and execution but currently lack the internal capability.Stardust Global.
