Reset the marketing machine
Why marketing feels heavier than it should, and what leaders can change to make the work move again
Somewhere between the planning deck and the fourth approval round, a lot of marketing teams have picked up a load of extra weight.
The work is still there, of course. Campaigns, content, reporting, launches, meetings, leadership pressure, sales pressure, proving value, proving it again.
But what many marketers are carrying now is not just the job. It is all the invisible work wrapped round the job. The extra layers that make a week feel full before the important thinking has even started.
That is what this session is about.
In this live conversation, Katy Howell is joined by Max Ashbrook, Marketing Director UK at Fujitsu, to look at why marketing often feels harder than it should right now, where time really leaks inside teams, and what practical changes can make the whole machine run better.
This is not a session about working harder.
It is about making marketing easier to move, easier to trust, and easier to lead.
If your team feels busy but progress still feels oddly slippery, this one will land.
What we’ll get into
- Why marketing work now feels heavier, even in strong teams
- Where approvals, reporting and handoffs quietly eat time
- Why more proof often creates more pressure, not more confidence
- What stronger marketing leaders are changing in team rhythm and ownership
- How team structures are shifting under budget pressure and scrutiny
- What practical changes help without blowing everything up
Why this matters now
Marketing has changed shape.
The job now sits in the middle of more channels, more internal scrutiny, more data, more stakeholders and more expectation to show value quickly.
That means many teams are not struggling because they lack talent.
They are struggling because the operating model around them has become cluttered.
This session looks at that honestly.
Because once you can see where the drag is, you can start removing it.
Meet the speakers
Katy Howell
CEO at Immediate Future
Katy has spent more than 20 years helping brands make social work properly inside modern marketing. Her focus is where trust, visibility and commercial pressure collide, especially when teams are stretched and trying to prove value under pressure.
Max Ashbrook
Marketing Director UK, Fujitsu
Max brings practical leadership experience from inside a large, complex marketing environment where clarity, prioritisation and team rhythm matter every day.
Together, they will unpack what stronger marketing teams are doing now to stay effective without simply asking people to absorb more.