Today marks my first day in Marketing Management class. This is a bit bittersweet. For a long time I have viewed Marketing as an easy class to take, and I think this will be comparatively easy. I have for a while disliked some specific elements of marketing, though.
I have two aversions to marketing. First is the emphasis on getting the sale. This is not actually a bad thing, but some of the steps that are necessary to close sales in specific instances leave a bad taste in my mouth. Some companies have ethically questionable marketing campaigns and I think this has influenced my thinking.
The second reason is much more significant. I view much (not all) of marketing as idea-driven work. Again, not evil or anything, but I had a bad experience in the past.
When I was in college I joined Students in Free Enterprise for what I considered an easy half credit. The class was populated mostly by Marketing majors and we met bi-weekly basis. People would come up with ideas for ways to raise money (which was the real purpose of the organization/class), and then they would look to people with any type of skills to implement the details. I was the Computer Science major who knew a little bit about web design, so I had to stave off a lot of requests on my time to put together web-based auctions and Powerpoint presentations. I also witnessed things that I considered less-than-ethical steps to implement some of the ideas that were presented.
I have slowly been coming to the conclusion that my initial opinions on marketing are not completely fair and do not represent the field accurately. There are unethical marketers, but marketing is not unethical by nature. I'm not concerned about that for this class, anyway, since this will be more academic than practical. It should be fun.
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The title Off the Bridge is to reflect that I created this blog in part due to peer pressure. When I created and named it I did not anticipate still using it years down the road.
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9 comments:
Yeah, we both have given marketing a bad rap. You are right that it is not unethical by nature.
such a young man with so many bad experiences...an innocence lost.
I love marketing; I hate salesmen.
I still cry myself to sleep at night.
Yes, I think there is a distinction between sales and marketing. In my mind, marketing is about publicizing a product and making sure it is understood appropriately. But there are always unscrupulous folks. I distinguish public relations differently too- the person who tells lies for a company or puts out fires. In reality, all these different areas are very close to one another.
Yeah, actually marketing is something of a blanket term that sometimes includes sales.
I am mostly pointing out that my impression of the field when I was in college was that it was for people who wanted to talk about cool new ideas without the hassle of being responsible for carrying them out. That assessment was wrong, but it was made from past experiences.
As a marketing/management major--should I be offended?! "Easy" have you tried to be creative to reach a broad band of people? Do you know what it's like to try to hone in on who you are marketing too and what will get their attention?! Not to mention what's appropriate or not appropriate and if you client will be happy or not with the creative license you take in presenting their product?!
Okay, I'm just rambling now, which is really what marketing is all about! :)
I was waiting for your response, so I have this clarification. I expect the class to be easy. :)
Like in every field there are easy and difficult Marketing jobs. The professor talked tonight about what his responsibility is--to develop entire marketing plans for major clients. That would be daunting.
I don't know that I am currently qualified to judge the difficulty of most specific Marketing jobs. Some of what it entails, such as product management, sounds intuitive and fun, though.
LOL! What is a missionary?
As a Marketing-degree-graduate...I am at a loss for words...ha ha!!
If one has ethics (morals/values) it can be a tough industry.
However, if one has ethics (morals/values) then one CAN market AND sell to people BECAUSE they DO have Ethics. People will be drawn to trust them with customer service and ultimately the sell/marketing aspect.
Personally, I don't agree with alot of advertising ploys...but I know that I have been successful in many sales/marketing positions because I am ALWAYS myself and ALWAYS truthful.
But, man oh man...I wish I was back in school and furthering my education! I guess that will have to wait till I get my little guys graduated from high school, huh? LOL! =)
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