Making Marketing Matter

Marketers are just scumbags. Sound familiar? Do you think that’s a fair assessment?

Let’s be honest, the art of marketing started with a bunch of people in a room trying to figure out how to say something great about a product or service that was probably just mediocre (or even sub-par). As the industry evolved, grew and adapted to newer forms of media and advertising, that whole process seemed to have magnified.

Because of this, it should come as no surprise that everyday people simply don’t trust Marketers.

And, if they don’t trust Marketers, why would anyone want to become a professional Marketer? In fact, could you even give Marketers a professional designation if this is the way people feel about them? If you looked at some of the more popular professions, Marketing sits right at the bottom of the list, alongside used car salesperson, lawyers and other “undesirables.” Things have changed over the years.

Things have to change for Marketing right now.

I love Marketing. I love being a Marketer. I am proud to be a Marketer. The truth of the matter is that Social Media has changed business, and in changing business it has changed marketing. Products and services have to be good in today’s world. If they’re not, they get called out. If they get called out (and enough people listen), these brands get buried. Marketing is no longer about just shilling wares. It’s a true challenge to figure out what the story is? Why consumers care for a brand? Why they share their passion with everyone they know? It’s become a serious business challenge. It’s become a real (and important) function of business. Marketing touches almost every aspect of business and how it runs.

Be proud to be a Marketer.

We are finally in a day and age where it’s not simply about creating a message and pushing it out to four channels ad nauseam until you submit the viewers into buying whatever it is that you are selling. Real Marketing (and yes, Marketing is real) is about how the product is created, why it matters, how to price it and how to service it. It’s also about how to make these stories spread, how to get people to really care, and how to keep them loyal.

Marketing matters.

I spend a lot of professional and personal time talking about Marketing. I don’t do this because I simply want brands to put more money into the Digital Marketing channels, I do this because I want Marketing to be taken seriously. I want young people in university to see Marketing as a viable and proud profession to pursue. I want more and more people to feel what I feel about this amazing industry.

What can we do together to make Marketing matter more?