All The Problems With Modern Marketing – Interview With Les Binet
Industry legend Justin Lebbon sits down with Les Binet, a world-renowned expert in marketing effectiveness. He served as the Group Head of Effectiveness at adam&eveDDB, one of the UK's leading creative agencies. He is best known for his work with Peter Field on the world leading “The Long and the Short of It”, which reshaped thinking around brand-building versus short-term activation. His insights into balancing short- and long-term marketing strategies have become foundational across the global advertising industry.
This is the latest in a series of exclusive video interviews from Lebbon at Cannes 2025. Look for the rest of the series in the days to come featuring Justin with other iconic industry figures.
When you look at The Long and the Short of It — now over a decade old — it outlines a 60/40 split between brand and performance. That’s a guideline, and for many categories, the ratio should skew even more towards brand. But in practice? We’re still way off. I often ask: why
Here's the answer from the great man himself:
Measurement, Ignorance, Incentives/KPIs, and Organisational Structure.
Measurement — “Snake Oil; Macho, deterministic BS”
Brand building — what some dismiss as “marketing fluff” (Les hates that term) — is a tough sell to CEOs and CFOs. It uses language like “more likely” and “greater chance of,” which doesn’t align with the certainty that leadership often expects. But marketing isn’t about certainty; there are too many variables. Boards have been sold the myth of certainty, and it’s complete BS — or as Les says, “snake oil." or "Macho deterministic BS".
I often speak to clients. One, a major telco selling mobility and internet services, knows they should lean more toward brand — but their split is 20/80 in favour of performance. Why? Attribution data (aka “snake oil”) and a need for instant results. I argue they’re targeting likely buyers and generating false positives. They agree — but incentives tied to these metrics keep the cycle going. Les calls this a barrier to doing marketing properly. Poor measurement is a modern-day barrier.
Incentives
This is a big one. If your marketing team is incentivized on short-term metrics, forget brand building altogether. For example, if a team member’s bonus is tied to short-term KPIs like clicks or web traffic, then short-term tactics will dominate. As Les says, bonuses create perverse incentives.
The platforms are brilliant at exploiting this. They know your KPIs and sell directly against them. “You want traffic? Great — here it is, and your bonus is secure.”
“Culture eats strategy for lunch.”
That line stuck with me. If your structure and KPIs are wrong, you can forget about effectiveness or long-term brand building. Even with the best intentions, if your organisation isn’t set up for it, you’re fighting a losing battle.
Ignorance
Sadly, many marketers still don’t truly understand how marketing works. I’ve heard this from Les and from CMOs. New hires — media managers, brand managers, marketers — often lack a solid grasp of fundamentals.
Here’s the kicker: The media ecosystem has changed — but people haven’t.
The fundamentals of marketing remain the same, and they won’t change anytime soon.
I asked Les which markets are doing the best work. His answer: “The US is way behind Europe and Australia — and they don’t even know it!”
That last point made me laugh. In my experience, the US often believes it leads the industry. In reality? It may be doing some of the worst marketing in the world.
