How to change the poor perception of marketing? Be Straightforward.

Let’s be honest (pun intended), the field of marketing is not always considered in a positive light. Unlike medicine or engineering, there’s a lot of negative baggage associated with the topic of marketing.

As I wrote in a previous post, it’s not that business leaders and marketers are immoral; some simply choose to permit an amoral culture. Such amoral behavior leads to unethical marketing.

Unfortunately, the unethical marketing behavior of a few organizations has had a negative impact on the field of marketing overall. Changing this perception is one of the reasons I embraced the topic of values-based marketing.

For example, today my son exclaims to me, “Did you see the latest TWC ads? They’re unethical!” Here Time Warner Cable (TWC) is promoting “Watch more than 4 shows at once”, targeting AT&T U-Verse customers who are limited to recording only 3 TV shows at the same time.

Intrigued, my son called TWC to find out more. What he discovered was: a) this is limited to only a few select areas of the country; and b) you have to subscribe to their whole home system, which basically means you need multiple DVRs throughout the house.

Regardless of the technical details, my son felt this was unethical marketing because it masked the truth. It was not comparing apples with apples and had major limitations not clearly disclosed (unless you can read the “mice type”).

Is it possible to avoid unethical marketing? Absolutely.

Truthful marketing starts with marketers being straightforward, which means free from ambiguity; aboveboard; honest.

Examples of marketers being straightforward include:

• Chick-fil-A with their slogan: “We Didn’t Invent the Chicken, Just the Chicken Sandwich.” No one expects to find hamburgers or hot dogs here. They specialize in chicken sandwiches and that’s exactly what customers will find there.
• Nordstrom prides itself on outstanding customer service. This might be best highlighted by the legend of refunding a customer for a tire (and Nordstrom has never sold tires). The straightforward approach is outlined in their marketing literature: “We will make every effort to see that your needs are met.” And this is exactly what customers can expect to receive.
• In 1987, The Partnership for a Drug-Free America (now Drugfree.org) ran a successful advertising campaign called This is your brain on drugs. It featured an egg (“This is your brain”) and an egg frying in a pan (“This is your brain on drugs”). Even non-profit organizations can make a significant impact by embracing the value of being straightforward.

Could someone have a bad experience with any of these brands? Of course! Every organization has times it fails to deliver on its promise. But such problems are easier to fix when the brand promise is straightforward.

 

What other brands would you suggest are straightforward in their marketing?

 

Today’s value was selected from the “Fairness-Respect” category, based on the e-book Developing Your Differentiating Values.