The biggest budget-burning marketing trend right now

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: MarTech Podcast ™ // Marketing + Technology = Business Growth
Host: Benjamin Shapiro
Guest: David Rabin, Chief Marketing Officer, Lenovo Solutions and Services Group
Episode Title: The biggest budget-burning marketing trend right now
Date: August 22, 2025

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Overview

This episode addresses the most wasteful trends in current marketing budgets, focusing on how organizations can eliminate inefficiencies to fund impactful, AI-driven innovation. Guest David Rabin shares practical insights on why marketing spend continues to generate subpar returns, the industry’s resistance to change, and actionable advice for marketers aiming to drive growth with smarter allocation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Biggest Budget Burner in Marketing

[01:38]

• Rabin identifies inertia-driven spending as the major budget drain:

  “Wasting money on programs that are not delivering ROI... There’s still a great percentage of marketing that is not providing a return.” (David Rabin, 01:38)

Explanations:

• Marketers continue to invest in tools, staff, programs, and sponsorships that don't generate clear returns.
• Many organizations cut budgets elsewhere to invest in AI, but unless they eliminate these inefficiencies, they can’t afford meaningful innovation.

2. Inertia as the Main Culprit

[01:55–02:35]

• Organizational resistance to change (inertia) keeps budget-burning activities alive:

  “As a leader, I don’t want to give up a third of my team. I don’t want to cut budgets, cut agencies, cut programs. It’s inertia. It just takes over and you just kind of keep rolling and doing the thing.” (David Rabin, 02:25)

• Even companies touting “zero-based budgeting” often revert to the same behaviors within a year.

3. How to Fund AI Initiatives

[01:58–02:45]

• To free up funds for AI, Rabin urges marketers to audit and cut low-value activities:

  “Go find the stuff that you’re wasting the money on and stop doing it... break the inertia... start experimenting in some of these new AI tools, AI programs, AI solutions.” (David Rabin, 02:12 & 02:39)

• The only way to adapt is to shift budgets from legacy efforts to innovation:

  "That's what's going to change your company, change you as a marketer." (David Rabin, 02:44)

4. Host’s Perspective & Broader Industry Trends

[02:47–03:17]

• Host Benjamin Shapiro points out trends like declining effectiveness of SEO and PPC due to AI-powered search, and the shift towards B2B content marketing:

  "Obviously, agentic AI and people using LLMs as their primary source of information, it's hurting traditional Google search... Content...becomes more effective than the traditional ad models." (Benjamin Shapiro, 02:49)

• Rabin maintains the answer isn’t one channel or another, but a holistic review of what actually drives ROI for the business.

5. The Role and Potential of AI in Marketing

[03:17–03:52]

• AI is enabling more targeted, smarter marketing:

  “AI is making us smarter. AI is making us more nimble. It’s letting us target the right person faster. We know what they ate for breakfast now, but can I serve them up the right piece of content that makes them think, oh, they’re right.” (David Rabin, 03:25)

• However, you can only invest in these advanced AI capabilities if you’ve first cut wasteful spend.

6. Key Takeaway for Marketers

• The episode’s advice is to break organizational inertia, ruthlessly audit spend, and modernize the marketing mix by reallocating budget toward AI and new technology.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Wasting money on programs that are not delivering ROI... there’s still a great percentage of marketing that is not providing a return.”
  — David Rabin, 01:38

• “It’s inertia. It just takes over and you just kind of keep rolling and doing the thing... Even companies that talk about zero based budgeting, look at it a year later. It’s inertia.”
  — David Rabin, 02:27

• “Go find the stuff that you're wasting the money on and stop doing it... break the inertia... start experimenting in some of these new AI tools.”
  — David Rabin, 02:12 / 02:39

• “AI is making us smarter. AI is making us more nimble. It's letting us target the right person faster. We know what they ate for breakfast now…”
  — David Rabin, 03:25

• “It may be true for some companies, what you just said, it may not be true for other companies. The SEO model, Google's got a pretty darn good thing going right now. What does it look like in five years? I don't know.”
  — David Rabin, 03:18

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:38] – Rabin on the biggest budget burner and causes of wasteful marketing spend
• [02:25] – Discussion of inertia and organizational resistance to change
• [02:47] – Host’s perspective on current industry trends (decline of SEO/PPC, rise of content)
• [03:17] – Rabin discusses how AI is transforming marketing effectiveness
• [03:52] – Closing remarks and contact information

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Final Thoughts & How to Connect

• Rabin underscores that organizational change and honest auditing are prerequisites for smart AI adoption and long-term marketing success.
• For more insights or to connect with David Rabin, visit LinkedIn or the Lenovo website.

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If you’re a marketer aiming to get ahead, the episode’s clear call to action: audit your current spend, challenge inertia, and commit your resources to where real growth—and smart technology-driven change—can happen.

Transcript

[A]

The Martech Podcast is a proud member of the I Hear Everything Podcast Network. Looking to launch or scale your podcast, I Hear Everything delivers podcast production, growth and monetization solutions that transform your words into profit. Ready to give your brand a voice? Then visit iheareverything.com.

[B]

From advertising to software as a service to data, across all of our programs and clients, we've seen a 55 to 65% open rate. Getting brands authentically integrated into content performs better than TV advertising. Typical life span of an article is about 24 to 36 hours. We're reaching out to the right person with the right message and a clear call to action. Then it's just a matter of timing.

[A]

Welcome to the Martech Podcast, a member of the I Hear Everything Podcast network. In this podcast, you'll hear the stories of world class marketers that use technology to drive business results and achieve career success. Here's the host of the Martech Podcast, Benjamin Shapiro.

[B]

I'm Benjamin Shapiro and joining me today is David Rabin, the Chief Marketing officer at Lenovo's Solutions and Services group, which helps companies build right size AI solutions. And today David is going to share how you can overcome organizational barriers that are blocking your AI adoption. All right, last question for you. What's the biggest budget burner in marketing right now?

[C]

Well, wasting money on programs that are not delivering roi. So a fairly generic example, but there's still a great percentage of marketing that is not providing a return. It's going to vary by the company. Some people are investing in tools that are not paying off. Some are investing staff and people that are not paying off. Others are investing in marketing programs that are not working. Some are investing in sponsorships that are not paying off. In order for you to fund AI programs, you're going to have to cut that fat because you're not getting a bigger budget. Marketing budgets, IT budgets, they're not rapidly increasing. Go find the stuff that you're wasting the money on and stop doing it. And I think if I sum up why this is happening, it's inertia. We're really slow as an industry to change what we're doing. We got people, right? The people got to do that thing. As a leader, I don't want to give up a third of my team. I don't want to cut budgets, cut agencies, cut programs. It's inertia. It just takes over and you just kind of keep rolling and doing the thing. Even companies that talk about zero based budgeting look at it a year later. It's inertia. You wind up doing a lot of the same stuff. You got to break the inertia. You got to cut a few things that aren't working and start experimenting in some of these new AI tools, AI programs, AI solutions. That's what's going to change your company, change you as a marketer.

[B]

It's interesting, I thought you were going to say SEO or PPC, obviously, agentic AI and people using LLMs as their primary source of information, it's hurting traditional Google search. Right? And then you think of what's happening in the industry trends nobody wants to be advertised to. So content, I think, is starting to be the vehicle which, mostly on the B2B side, becomes more effective than the traditional ad models. And yours is like, no, there's just fat that you're going to have to cut across all of the different channels.

[C]

And, Ben, that may be true for some companies, what you just said, it may not be true for other companies. The SEO model, Google's got a pretty darn good thing going right now. What does it look like in five years? I don't know. But to your point, the way we communicate with people, we're getting a lot smarter. AI is making us smarter. AI is making us more nimble. It's letting us target the right person faster. We know what they ate for breakfast now, but can I serve them up the right piece of content that makes them think, oh, they're right. I had a burrito for breakfast and now they want to talk to me about it. Great, I want to talk to them. We couldn't do that a few years ago, but if I didn't start cutting some fat out of the budget, I couldn't have afforded to invest in these tools.

[B]

David, Well, I appreciate you coming on the podcast and telling us a little bit about AI adoption and specifically about what it's like in the enterprise. How can people get a hold of you if they're interested? Anything you want to plug before we let you go?

[C]

Hey, Lenovo's changing, so pay attention to us. Doesn't matter what function you're in. We like to be known as a company that's changing the world and delivering smarter technology for all. So you can find me on LinkedIn or drop me a note, but, yeah, love the conversation and I really appreciate Ben having me on the show.

[B]

Appreciate you coming on. And that wraps up this episode of the MarTech podcast. Thanks to David Rabin, the Chief Marketing Officer at Lenovo Solutions and Services Group, for joining us. If you'd like to contact David, you could find a link to his LinkedIn profile in our show notes or on martechpod.com or you can visit his company's website, which is lenovo.com and if you haven't subscribed yet and you want a daily stream of marketing and technology knowledge in your podcast feed, hit the subscribe button in your podcast app or on YouTube and we'll be back in your feed every week. All right, that's it for today, but until next time, my advice is to just focus on keeping your customers happy.

[C]

Foreign.

[A]

Thanks for listening to the Martech podcast, and I hear everything. Production Looking to launch or scale a podcast like this one for your brand? Then visit iheareverything.com.