Posts Tagged ‘marketing’

No man is an island! Being social animals, our success in this world very much depends on our ability to get along with others. This includes our ability to communicate with others, to influence others, to convince them of the worth of both ourselves, and our ideas. Thus, we are always selling in one way or another. Sounds logical enough! In fact we have all heard this so many times before, that it is practically self evident. The only problem is that it is unadulterated bullshit.

Equating teaching teenagers about the ideals of the French revolution, or attempting to convince your toddler to go to bed tonight, are not the same as selling vacuum cleaners, or financial services.

True, they all involve some form of persuasion that much is undeniable. However, what distinguishes the latter examples from the former is that for the teacher and the parent it is done for the benefit of the students and the toddler. In the case of the sale, the salesman stands to benefit. In fact this benefit is the primary motivation for the entire exchange.

By blurring this distinction, selling is elevated, somehow ennobled. At the same time, persuasion that which is altruistic is minimized, or even invalidated. Everything becomes reduced to one simple common denominator – selling! For many people compulsive self-promotion and selling has become so deeply ingrained, that they literally do not know when to stop. For such people, selling does not stop in the boardroom, or in the showroom, but extends to friends, neighbours, and the family alike.

In the best case selling is selective truth; in the worst case it is outright misleading. What it does not do is convey the whole truth, as we would be asked to do in a court of law. Truth may be subjective, but when we are embellishing, or editing to convey an impression we are misleading others in some way. Technically, we’re not lying, in the legal sense. But in the moral sense, we most certainly are.

The typical justification of the salesman is that we all do it, we all have to make a buck somehow. This is the morality of the herd –which is not morality, but tribal group think masquerading as ethics.

The horror of it is that these days, all are compelled to sell. Teachers have to jump through hoops to amuse their students, university professors are evaluated on how much their students enjoy their lectures, and parents have to compete with cartoon characters and sanitized versions of classic fairy tale characters to communicate values to their children.

In such a world to not sell, to refrain from embellishing and entertaining, to simply tell it as you see it, is to be inaudible. You simply do not register, you do not count, and you do not exist.

Another more insidious consequence of this “everyone is a salesman” mindset is that it implies that the market is the ultimate arbiter of value. If something does not sell, it is not of value. This progressively crowds out anything whose deliverables to the consumer can not be squeezed into a sound byte, while promoting that which titillates the senses and appeals to the vanity. Over time we become progressively more indulgent, superficial and addicted.

Ultimately, it has taken us to where we find ourselves today as a society: relating to one another only as Buyers and Sellers, nothing more. The filter through which we hear is “what is in it for me now?” In order for our message to get out there, to not get lost in all the noise out there, we talk louder, faster, longer, – all the while saying next to nothing!

The essence of what we are purchasing when we do buy – the perceived benefit, if you will, is hope! Not just the hope that the product will do what it promises, but the hope that among the benefits it will bring is the happiness that we all crave. We desperately need to believe that that pill will not only make us lose weight, it will help us find a mate we desire, and that mate will finally make us happy. Or the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) package, which helps you sell more books, advice, or whatever, will make you more money, and that money will buy you security and recognition and fun, and in the end all that will make you happy. Even the illusion that it will bring us some respite from the gloom we would otherwise be feeling is already providing us with a kind of value. So even if the product is a hoax our benefit is that short period of hope we experience before we came upon the realization that it was just another empty promise – something we half knew all along.

We all want to make a great deal. What is even truer is that we all hate to think we made a bad deal. This extends to our personal lives as well. It relates to our choice of friends, our choice of mates, to the house we buy, to the profession we choose. With this mentality there is no win-win. It is a zero-sum game. For every winner there needs to be a loser on the opposing side. The problem is that even when we do win, if we have gone too far, and tipped the scale too far in our favour, the other party experiences buyers’ remorse, and will look for a way out of the deal. When you feel you’ve been played you feel no loyalty to the other party. Also, in an environment where everyone is looking for the best deal both people are free to trade up.

Once upon a time there was a traveler who was caught out alone in the dark in the middle of a deep, dark forest. The wind was howling and the rain pouring down. He had been travelling for what seemed like an eternity, but no shelter was in sight.

Finally, his eyes alighted upon a dim light in the distance. His heart began to pound in his chest and his pace quickened. As he trudged on, lifting one heavy, tired foot in front of the other, the light grew in intensity. Eventually, he could just make out the silhouette of a little cottage deep in the wood.

After much struggle he made it to the front door of the cottage. He knocked – no answer! He knocked again – still no answer! Finally, in desperation, with all the force he could muster, he pounded on the door with his fist.

After a few seconds he heard the sound of shuffling steps inside. Gradually the steps grew closer until the door opened, ever so slightly, just enough to reveal the small craggy face of a very old woman.

“Go away!” she said. “Please let me in!” the traveler implored. “I am a wayward traveler and have nowhere else to go. If you let me in I will sit quietly by the fire and will not ask anything more of you, so please let me in.” The old lady appeared unmoved, but the traveler was persistent. Finally, she relented and let him in.

The traveler crouched before the fireplace. He could begin to feel his frozen hands warming from the flames of the fire, and it felt wonderful. After a time, the traveler asked the old lady if he might have something to eat. “The cupboards are bare” she said. “I already told you I have nothing to offer you.” “I understand,” he replied. “I have a magical stone with which I can make you the most amazing stew you have ever tasted. All I need is a large cauldron and some hot water.”

This tale pricked the curiosity of the old lady and she went to the kitchen returning with a cauldron full of hot water which was then placed over the fire. Once the pot was brought to a boil, the traveler reached into his pocket, extracted what looked to be an ordinary pebble one might find on the road, and gingerly dropped it in the cauldron.

After stirring the pot for a time the traveler said to the old lady, “This stew will be so good, but if one adds a pinch of salt and pepper it would be all the more wonderful and flavourful.” The old lady disappeared into the kitchen once again, this time returning with salt and pepper which the traveler then sprinkled into the soup.

The traveler then tasted the soup and smiled saying that it was going to be delicious. “What might enhance the flavour still further,” he suggested, “would be some carrots, celery and turnips. But of course I know you have nothing in the cupboard so no need to bother.” Upon hearing this, the old lady disappeared once again, only to return with the desired carrots, celery and turnips. “Excellent!” exclaimed the traveler, as he tossed them into the boiling cauldron. Once again he returned to stirring the soup.

By now the old lady could smell the aroma of the simmering stew and began to feel hungry. The more she inhaled the sweet aroma, the more hungry she became, and the more she looked forward to the meal they were about to share.

Over time the old lady and the traveler struck up a conversation. The traveler told her tales from his travels – recounting in splendid detail his various adventures and misadventures. Each of the tales featured the magical stone and the incredible stews it created, each unique, each surpassing the last in excellence. Each time he mentioned the soup the traveller would describe in detail the various ingredients he used. After a time he recounted a story in which the final, and best ingredient was added to the stew: meat. As he described the part about the meat his voice grew deep and melodious. The old lady, who had become completely entranced with the traveller’s tales by now, began to salivate. Soon she disappeared into the kitchen only to return with a plate heavily laden with every type of meat. There was game, there was chicken; beef and pork was there too. These too were placed in the stew.

Finally, at long last the stew was ready. The traveller carefully removed the now heavy cauldron from the fire and then ladled the thick soup into two large bowls. The old lady by this point was beside herself with anticipation. She dipped her spoon into the soup and brought the sweet smelling stew to her lips.

“It is magnificent!” she exclaimed. “This is the best stew I have ever tasted in my entire life. You are truly a magician.” “Imagine, all this from just a simple stone.” replied the traveller with a smile.

We all learn at an early age that nothing comes for free in this life. Nonetheless, there is nothing more appealing than a really good deal. Better still, is the promise of getting something for nothing. Absolutely nothing works better in sales than the free giveaway. The traveler’s offer to the old woman to make soup from a stone employed precisely this principle.

The lesson to be drawn from the story is that people need to be conned. Had the traveler told the miserly old lady precisely what the ingredients of the miraculous soup were in advance, she would have turned him down cold. So, even that which is of value cannot be sold without the aid of deception.

Abstract: As a society we have all been indoctrinated into a giant cult. It is the cult of marketing. We experience ourselves and each other as brands, commodities, assets, which are bought and sold at market. Not only does this cult crowd out authenticity of any kind, it is not sustainable in the long run. The current economic crisis is an example of the limitations of the virtual world that has been created.

What is a cynic? A man who know the price of everything and the value of nothing. – Oscar Wilde

If I were to tell you that you are a member of a cult, I bet you’d react with shock, anger and possibly rage. I bet too that if I made that same statement to any religious fundamentalist, or your garden variety fringe fanatic, I’d get pretty much the same reaction.

The main difference between their cult and yours, I would explain, is its size – their cult number in the hundreds, sometimes thousands, while yours numbers in the billions.

In one way or another we must all play in this game. No matter what your particular gift or expertise, you have no choice but to play the marketing game if you are to survive.

Such a game nullifies the value of our gifts, our passion, our intelligence, and our perseverance. Wherever the marketer is king, talking a good game, looking good, being likeable, being sexy become the winning traits. Conversely, knowledge, integrity, fortitude, kindness, generosity and graciousness become nothing more than frills, mere anachronisms. They are the traits associated with those on the fringe – the losers, artists, intellectuals, the has-beens. In fact, substance of any kind becomes a burden and an obstacle to progress. It becomes the ballast that holds you down and stifles your creativity while you concoct what you think your client expects.

If you build homes, for instance, your success is not measured by the quality of homes you build but by your ability to manage your client’s expectations. Similarly, dentists, doctors and accountants can no longer build a thriving practice on just excellence and hard work – he too must play the marketing game.

Observe the marketing cult members at a cocktail party: the seasoned pros are all looking exuberant, healthy and successful, staying on message. Any authentic person placed in this environment will appear awkward and nervous, happy to have someone to talk with – even if it means listening to an endless monologue of bombastic self-aggrandizement.

If that person commits the cardinal sin of introducing a topic they are passionate about they are met with glazed eyes and uneasiness. Success in this jungle is measured by how much fun we are; being perceived as intense, is the kiss of death.

You don’t have to get very deep into this cult before you realize that selling is not really a choice; it’s survival. The market is inundated with hustlers who lack any objective, reliable criteria upon which to assess competence; instead, likeability and slickness become their key success criteria. In this way the consumer is unwittingly steered towards the con men and those who cannot sell are simply invisible.

Placed in this context, the success of investment banks is easy to understand. In conveying an air of success and competence, their performance becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The well-tailored suit, the perfectly coifed hair and the confident even demeanor all convey success, competence and authority. This then forms the backdrop for what they’re selling – the opportunity to be rich, successful and popular as they appear to be. By the time they actually make their pitch, the potential buyer is already sold. Who is the prospective buyer? Anybody in the room!

The ubiquitousness of this game forces us to choose between two options, one more repugnant than the other:

The first option is to bite the bullet and attempt to sell. Unfortunately, when it comes to mastering bluff and small talk, most of us are like fish out of water. Not being natural liars, we are no match for those naturally inclined to embellishment and hyperbole. This puts us between a rock and a hard place. Instead of plying our trade we spend our time going to sales courses in the hope that a few crumbs will fall our way.

Those who are not socially skilled have to ally themselves with a rainmaker. To add insult to injury, in the event that they are successful in finding such a hustler, they become the drone, the weaker party in the relationship. It is no surprise then to see that professional firms – management consulting, architects, lawyers – are controlled by the partners who are adept at bringing in the clients. Over time their confidence erodes and sooner or later they fall victim to despair, or some form of sedation.

Of course, this entire focus upon making the sale, with next to no thought upon delivering the product, is not sustainable in the long run.

The current banking crisis is a prime example the cult of marketing run amuck. The banks sold homeowners on the idea of buying a house with next to no security. They next sold the debt to fund managers and investors. They in turn re-packaged it in combination with other assets and sold it to other investors.

Over time the volume of these investments, together with the increasingly creative ways in which they were combined, flooded the market with investments of indeterminable value. The high degree of integration between all the world’s financial markets took what began as a local problem, a number of failed mortgages in the US and allowed it to infect the entire global investment and banking system.

If anything good does come out of this crisis it will be that we have been woken, albeit rudely, from our collective trance. Hopefully we can return to those things of sustaining value – kindness, graciousness, sincerity – and in so doing come to see ourselves as something more than consumers and producers bitterly struggling with one another for our place in the sun.