Quite sure. Though I think we may have a different definition of what a marketing department does.
A company can't just abandon its userbase the way I feel steemit inc is abandoning us as a community. We can't have context, perspective and understanding without a marketing team whose job is (among others) community relations - explaining to us what is happening on the platform we invest our time and money in. You're right, my suggestions might be totally wrong because I truly have no idea what is being done on any front aside from the technical one. And that is EXACTLY why Steemit inc needs a marketing department with someone managing PR.
From my perspective, it looks like steemit is prioritizing the technology over the product, and the product over its existing and potential user base. Which may or may not be the right business decision. I honestly don't know.
Marketing is similar to User Experience in that they both require communication, and both are important to a company's success. Marketing faces outward and gets you new users, while UX faces inward and helps the ones you have be successful, stick around, and tell their friends.
I think you are really talking about UX, not marketing.