Whatever the reality behind marketing's vaunted contribution to corporate success, the large budgets it has enjoyed for decades are finally beginning to attract attention—even criticism. So much so, in fact, that doubts are surfacing about the very basis of contemporary marketing: the value of ever more costly brand advertising, which often dwells on seemingly irrelevant points of difference; of promotions, which are often just a fancy name for price cutting; and of large marketing departments, which, far from being an asset, are often a millstone around an organization's neck.

Doubts are surfacing about the very basis of contemporary marketing

These uneasy suspicions grow even more troubling in the face of the environment in which consumer goods companies are operating today. Private label, large and increasingly sophisticated retailers, and the current recession all exert pressure on their margins. Consumer loyalty to their products dwindles. Line extensions stand in for innovation, while genuinely new products—and the new markets they might create—prove hard to find. Technology, instead of enhancing product or service distinctiveness, erodes it. Value shifts away from manufacturers and toward the point of sale.

Conscious of these painful trends, many chief executives are beginning to wonder whether the higher salaries, better...