Marketing is what we make out of it. At its worst it is an evil tool designed to con people out of their money by making them think they need something that they don't want.

At its best, it's an incredibly powerful empowerment tool that can literally change the world.

I'd rather change the world. The problem is, that takes a LOT of work. And most people don't like work, they like shortcuts. They don't like to think long-term, they want it now now now. Marketers are no different.

Should we do a better job of tootin' our own horns if we do good marketing work? Maybe. But in the end, results are what change minds. As long as marketers such as yourself are working to transform companies from the inside out, as long as you are spreading your message of the true potential of good marketing to others, the change in perception will come.

As 'someone' once said: "The price of victory is high, but so are the rewards."

Tim,

I would love to meet and talk with your wife. As a writer who started his career as a daily journalist; then made a living as a freelancer for six years, writing for major magazines and newspapers througout North America; and now has his 5th book scheduled for publishing, my take is that the world's best and most important writing would never reach our eyes without sales and marketing.

In fact, I once taught a writing class on marketing one's work. Why? Writers, to me, are primarily wannabes if their work isn't marketable. Writing for oneself is a nice hobby but doesn't make one a writer. Marketing plays a key role in turning writing from a hobby into an art that is shared and a career.

There are a lot of folks out there like Ann who associate marketing with annoying phone calls,trade-show giveaways,and (within a company) reckless,wasteful spending. (I had one boss who would tee me up for my weekly status report by saying "Maureen will now talk about marketing fluff." I actually see marketing very simply. Our job is to make our products easier to sell and easier to buy. We do this by making sure that the products we're bringing to market meet a customer need and provide value at a decent price point. By making the market aware of our products. And by making sure that all of our communications about our products are clear, relevant, and honest.

There are more people who are about it than your wife might think. Here's a couple of great organizations that are doing good things about the dark side of marketing:

http://www.commercialexploitation.org/index.html
http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog/index.php

I would say we are the good guys. But, the thing about marketing, when it's good, it doesn't seem like marketing. You may intuitively know you are being marketed to, but you don't feel like you're being sold.

When most people, like your wife, think about marketing, the first thing that pops in their head, understandably, is all the shit. People remember the shit because it feels like they're at a used car dealership.

I know I'm rambling, but my point is, great marketing doesn't feel like marketing, so it often just doesn't get equated with the word in most people's minds.

Thank you all for your comments! (I'm feeling pretty special these days.)

All of you have good points (and thanks for the links Rachel), but Paul hit it on the head for me. To me, I see "marketing" as being one of those words that falls victim to semantics. I tried arguing with my beautiful and stubborn wife that marketing can be many things- I pointed to my own efforts with my blog and said, "that's marketing" and she disagreed. She says that, "you're different, you have a relationship with those people." EXACTLY!

Relationships! Mack is the King of Community and I guess I'd be the Arch Duke of Relationships. I get all hot and sweaty when I get going on relationships. I think of myself as a crappy salesperson, but I'm a great relationship builder. Once I have a good relationship with somebody, I know I can "sell" them stuff because I only offer them what they trust to be an honest suggestion. I listen to their needs and offer them things that I believe suit those needs. As modern marketers, I believe that is what we do best.

Maureen - Not sure whether to laugh or cry over this one: "I had one boss who would tee me up for my weekly status report by saying 'Maureen will now talk about marketing fluff.'"....WOW.

And Tim: Your wife thinks you're different (in the ways you decribe) because you CARE. And really...the best marketers really DO care, which is what we are all reiterating here.

Nice post!

No doubt, I'm different alright... but we shouldn't cover that here without the ok of my parole officer and therapists.

Exactly- caring matters. Just ask Mack, he'll tell you how much he cares. Or Toby. Or Paul... or anybody in this room. Paul's right that "we" are the good guys, but I sincerely believe that the good guys are winning the fight these days and growing in numbers.

I love you man.

This brings to mind one key phrase, learned at a church retreat, but I find applicable in all areas especially as regards to marketing/spreading the word/selling:

"People don't care what you know until they know that you care."

Richard- I love you too man.

Jennifer- that's a perfect quote! I'm stealing that one.

This is my big virtual hug to you all...

http://www.freehugs.org/

Sorry, I love this thing.

Hug away Marketers!

Anne, At my last job at Charming Shoppes I sat catty-corner to the VP Art Director. She was notorius for loud speaker phone conversations ala thick New York accent. One day she's blathering on when she says "Any shumck can write copy." The entire copy department was right outside her door. grrrrrrrr.

I had a boss in shop once who blurted out (in front of customers and the mechanics); "any $5.00 monkey can work on a bike!" The shop went silent and two of the three mechanics walked out. One never came back...

My husband and I are both Pisces also. It does make life difficult sometimes. Having two fire sign children doesn't help!

Without marketing, what is a business?

Well, broke and hopeless are two words that come to mind right away. But it's 15 minutes past Friday the 13th, so maybe that's some eerie pessimism sneaking in...

Nah, that pretty much sums it up. Without marketing, a business has no customers and no sales. I'd call marketing the crux of the business world, whatcha think?

Thanks for your kind words. Okay .. virtual hugs to all.

My pet peeve - exactly. Too often the people within marketing have little respect for their own profession. Too often people within marketing don't understand what goes into any other aspect but their own (Tammy's example).

Marketing is so ubiquitous that of course, Anyone and Everyone KNOWS she/he can shoot a better commercial or write a better ad.

Tim you hit on a huge problem that marketing and marketers continously face.

Daniel- You are right. Without those of us who sound the trumpets, the masses wouldn't know much about the products/ services/ ideas being created by brilliant people. I run into this, from a different angle with some folks I write for- they have the ideas and the products, but not the communication skills. I handle that part for them. That's one of the fun parts of marketing.

Toby- virtual hug back atcha! That was all part of my point- we get an unnecessarily bad rap, as marketers. Many marketers are doing great things to enable participation and involvement, building vibrant communities.

Marketing is only one small partof what I do in my job, but it is one of the parts I enjoy the most.

So what's the antidote to the problem? We can't continue to whine as victims. We can change our predicament.

I must make a shameless plug. The new book I co-authored with MarketingProfs founder and publisher, Allen Weiss, called Marketing Champions--Practical Strategies to Improve Marketing's Power, Influence and Business Impact (see here: www.marketingchampions.com) will help.