Just read this article on how marketers do a poor job of marketing Marketing. Very interesting perspective.
The simple, but brilliant point that Marketing is neither a science nor a profession helps explain the frequent (and often unfair) criticism of the discipline (although one could argue that Marketing is becoming both a science and a profession as the discipline gets more attention). And I had to chuckle at the author’s point about the lack of any code of conduct for marketers. So very very true (and so very very unfortunate). Maybe the marketing world needs government oversight (yeah, right — just like the banking world needs the SEC).
I wonder … does the mercurial rise of technology help or hurt marketing? One the one hand, the farther the Internet spreads its tentacles, the more raw data gets disbursed. One could say that this raw data undermines marketing (who wants to squeeze the Charmin if “TP.com” says that other brands are softer?). On the other hand, perhaps this infusion of technology is just what the industry needs. First, it will help reveal the charlatans out there (who’s claims can’t be substantiated) and second, it helps further the cause of quantified results (the holy grail of ROI). Click-throughs and minutes-spent-per-page are much easier to assign directly to some marketing initiative.
Still, as a creative person working for a creative company, I hope the discipline of Marketing continues to allow for (or even demand) adventurous thinking. Otherwise, I fear Marketing wouldn’t be as fun, or as interesting, as it is today.
