Brandweek 2026: Doug Zarkin says brands over-focus on acquisition while neglecting retention
At Brandweek 2026, Doug Zarkin argued that marketers’ preference for acquisition is masking a costlier problem — weak retention — and said retention deserves equal energy, budget and attention; he also suggested some churn reflects operational failures rather than marketing alone.
Summary
AI-assisted summary of the linked sourceSpeaking live on the Marketing Vanguard stage, CMO and author Doug Zarkin argued that brands prioritise acquisition while understating retention’s cost, urged that retention receive the same resources as acquisition, and said customer churn can signal operations problems rather than purely marketing failures.