About six people forwarded a post to me from the cats at 37Signals entitled "Marketing as an Ethical Duty." (note: I'm not sure what they are trying to tell me- I'll assume the best) The gist of the post was that you, as a marketer, should be representing a product that is in your own mind the coolest and most useful thing ever, or you're really wasting your time. From that, you can logically assume that if your product or service is indeed so life-alteringly rad, it is your ethical duty to spread the word about it.
I like the idea of loving your product to the point where you feel a personal stake in making sure that not a single one of the 6 billion people on this planet should have to live without it. I just don't think it's particularly realistic for any more than a small minority of very lucky folks to be in this position.
What if you sell Sanford Expo Dry Erase Markers (to pick a random thing in my office)? Not to disparage the good people at Sanford, but it's hard to get terribly revved up about a whiteboard marker, although to look at their site, they appear to have many competent people in the marketing department who busy themselves daily with ways to sell this product. You are not changing the world here if you are a marketer for Sanford, nor would you be invited to many parties if you approached people with an ipod-like evangelism of your writing implements. Some products just aren't all that transformative but still need to be differentiated and presented to a customer base all the same.
I think that if you are in a position where you are selling legitimate products that are perhaps a bit too mundane to change the world with then is is your responsibility to get jazzed up about marketing itself. Take toilet paper, for example. With the exception of certain institutional varieties that are made out of card board or flash paper, most premium TP blends are utterly fungible. I think it is ok for the marketing team to accept that fundamental concept deep withinin the recesses of its collective soul, so long as it continues to devote all of its time, energy and passion to creating new and interesting ways to present its specific brand of toilet paper to customers in innovative ways. Like, say, a video with cartoon bears taking a poop.
I get wary when people add an ethical slant like this to my job, even though I think they are coming from the right place. Corporate ethics should involve following the law, not targeting children for cigarette sales, telling the truth to customers and investors, and giving back to the community wherever possible. Outside of that, just sell good products. Enjoy what you do. Help your company succeed. Everything on top of that is gravy.
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