marketing – Page 2 – Lessons in Modern Marketing

As a Marketer, I like to think I am “immune” to marketing: I know what goes on behind the scenes, so I am not mesmerized by the bells and whistles of the front end. I have been through a couple different programs of sales training, so I know every trick in the book used to entice one to buy something. I do not allow sentimental images dancing across the screen to woo me, I am uninspired by inspirational music. I am a veritable fortress unto myself, nothing can crack my defenses.

Until we run out of toilet paper, and I didn’t like the last brand. Or I’m feeling like ‘water lily’ scented deodorant this time, instead of ‘Hawaiian Breeze.’ Or Hautelook is having a sale on Dooney and Burke!

Ok, I must admit I shop, just like everybody else. Well, not just like, but I am a consumer, after all. My experience as a Marketer does impact my buying behavior, but I cannot claim total immunity to being influenced by a great commercial or strategically-placed ad in my social media feed.

What type of consumer would I consider myself? Being a Mother, the majority of my shopping is habitual, to satisfy household needs (Kardes, p. 8). In terms of shopping for my family (i.e., basic groceries, supplies and such), I avoid getting the cheapest option when shopping. I believe in quality, but up to a point: I do keep an eye on my budget, but I have learned that some items are worth paying a bit extra for to get better performance or longevity. But I also understand that something are just over-priced to create hype, and I don’t need to be seen with those things, at this point.

While I might exhibit a degree of brand loyalty, I like to have a couple options for times when my first choice is not available. I am not a variety shopper (Ecommerce, 2019, para. 10) just for the entertainment of it, but I will venture out and try something new if my previous selection of an item was unsatisfactory.

In my previous life selling at the farmers’ markets, particularly as a baker or selling rare varietals from the greenhouse, I would charge a premium price, because my offerings were Artisan, meaning an authentic version, not mass-produced.

A number of items we have in our cultural sphere are watered-down versions of their authentic iterations, “dumbed-down” to appeal to a mass market audience. Examples of this include coffee, beer, wine, tobacco, cheese, bread, even soap. Anyone who has tasted a robust, flavorful micro-brewed beer understands that the generic options in cans or a 12-pack at the grocery store are no comparison. It is same with the coffee, and cheese, and bread, etc.: There exists these items in something closer to their original form, not to be liked by everyone, but appreciated by those who share their lineage. For these items, will pay more when shopping, based upon a mental decision (Kardes, p. 10) that they are better and worth the expense.

What influences my buying decisions?

When shopping for the home and family, I pretty much summed it up above. When shopping for myself, or when buying a gift (Kardes, P. 8), however, my thought process is different. I do enjoy giving gifts, and I will choose based upon what I think the recipient will both enjoy, but also can get good use out of. I would like them to use the item often, and think of me fondly. In most cases, I consider price in gift purchases only in that, unless my relationship with this person is super-close, they will likely feel uncomfortable receiving an expensive gift, and discomfort is not the point of gift giving!

Both in gift-giving and shopping for myself, I usually think of what I need and then look for or research the item (Kardes, p. 9). I don’t hang out looking for advertising to tell me what to buy. A couple years ago I cut the cord with cable, and I see very few commercials, which I prefer. Of course, commercials come find me on social media, but unless I had already thought of buying the item, I do not pay much attention.

Even in the situation I mentioned of Hautelook having Dooney & Burke on sale, I would have already decided I am looking for a new particular handbag, and then hang out and wait for a good candidate to appear, I don’t feel the need to rush out a get just anything.

In my buyer’s journey, I go through the steps of deciding I need/want something, researching the options (best brand, most likely venue to procure the item, be it in-store or on-line), and then decide an optimal price. If it’s an actual need, the price is less negotiable if time is short, but when the item is a want, I can decide what I am willing to pay, and then wait. It seems my purchase decision occurs after the research phase.

I am pretty independent in my purchasing decisions, even if research or marketing says I should be exhibiting a specific set of buying behaviors for my demographic.

As far as post-purchasing behaviors, I like to be as responsible as possible. In my previous life as a farmer, most of the farm outputs could be recycled back into the system (composting manure, feeding leftover produce back to the animals, etc.) so reducing waste is second-nature to me. Only if an item is truly worn-out does it go into the garbage. Anything else I possibly can I either resell, donate, give away or upcycle. And I am mindful of this while making the decision to buy an item in the first place.

So, even though I am still a consumer, I do feel that being a marketer enables me to take a different view of buying: I take an active role in decision-making and research, I have patience and self-restraint, and I am mindful of what will happen to the item when I am done with it. Even the bells and the whistles.

References:

Consumer behavior in marketing – patterns, types, segmentation (no author) (Nov 26, 2019) Ecommerce Growth Blog, retrieved from: https://www.omniconvert.com/blog/consumer-behavior-in-marketing-patterns-types-segmentation.html

Kardes, Frank. Consumer Behavior, 2e.. [MBS Direct].

The iconic sleazy used car salesman. Don’t be this guy!

Fair or not, the field of Marketing has a mixed reputation. Especially when grouped into a larger heading of “Sales and Marketing.” Kurt Russel brilliantly portrayed the stereotypical greasy salesman in the 1980 film Used Cars: lying, cheating, doing whatever he had to do to sucker someone into buying a car. Marketers who employ the same tactics in their advertising campaigns are acting unethically. And while the majority of marketers strive for a professional, fair and balanced representation of their products, the few “bad apples” who market using deceptive practices are, unfortunately, who consumers tend to remember.

To a person aspiring to join the field of marketing, it is important to learn a good set of ethical best practices and to work within them right from the beginning. The American Trade Association (AMA.org) has published an Statement of Ethics created by industry members to guide marketing efforts along a path of integrity and fairness. While it is a somewhat exhaustive list of rules, the intention of the guidelines is summarized quite nicely in the Preamble:

“The American Marketing Association commits itself to promoting the highest standard of professional ethical norms and values for its members (practitioners, academics and students). Norms are established standards of conduct that are expected and maintained by society and/or professional organizations. Values represent the collective conception of what communities find desirable, important and morally proper. Values also serve as the criteria for evaluating our own personal actions and the actions of others. As marketers, we recognize that we not only serve our organizations but also act as stewards of society in creating, facilitating and executing the transactions that are part of the greater economy. In this role, marketers are expected to embrace the highest professional ethical norms and the ethical values implied by our responsibility toward multiple stakeholders (e.g., customers, employees, investors, peers, channel members, regulators and the host community). “
(AMA.org, 2019)

In essence, this renders down to a marketing campaign that presents a fair, balanced and truthful representation of a product, without taking unfair advantage of the consumer, or even the competition. What does this mean for an Integrated Marketing Campaign? An IMC will combine traditional print and media advertising with social and other on-line media. When using Social Media, many personal users blur the lines between reality and presentation: It is well-known that it takes numerous attempts at a “selfie” to get one worth sharing. With the multitude of picture filters now available, a remarkable number of people miraculously now have Disney eyes and flawless skin!

While questionable enough in personal use, it is unprofessional and unacceptable the blur those lines when marketing. Even when using social media to portray a product or service, the marketer must strive for an accurate representation. This is no place for a filter or a image cropped so as to change its depiction.

Social media can be effective in marketing products to raise brand awareness by encouraging information about a product to spread by “word-of-mouth” advertising. But when a marketer intentionally “seeds” a product with an influencer or brand ambassador, it is in keeping with ethical practices to disclose in the advertising that such a seed took place, or that the ambassador is being compensated in some way by the company. (Clow, p. 402) While some critics may argue that this should never occur at all, it is considered acceptable, as long as the disclosure is prominently communicated to the consumer.

In an IMC, planning how and when to launch information and advertising is often influenced by what the target market segment is. Ethical best practices dictate that when the target group is children, extra care must be taken to ensure that the advertising does not take unfair advantage of the viewer: Products must be accurately shown as they really are; accessories that are not included must be stated so; and if adult supervision is required of the child’s use of the product, this supervision must also be depicted in the advertising. (Clow, p. 404)

Why are following these rules of ethics so important? The first topic that comes to mind is consumer protection: The consumer must be able to trust the representations of products and services conveyed. In our market economy, there are already so many choices to be considered for every purchase. Adding the burden of attempting to weed out lies and gross exaggerations to the purchasing process would render it almost impossible. Lying to get somebody to buy something is stealing their money. Misleading a consumer into engaging with an unsafe product or with a product in an unsafe way is dangerous and at an extreme could lead to criminal charges, as well as injury or fatalities.

But another consideration of keeping in Ethical practices is to maintain industry self-regulation: The AMA is a trade association representing marketers, and it is professional marketers who have devised and drafted the Ethical guidelines. Most industries have self-populated associations with their own Best Practices guidelines. The reasoning behind this is that those who work in an industry know the considerations better than an outsider, and it is in their own best interests to watch over themselves as peers, rather than an outside group doing it. An industry that fails to self-regulate will eventually lose their ability to do so. Sort of like children who cannot get along earn themselves a babysitter.

Every marketer who flouts the rules risks bringing the industry one step closer to government regulation, which generally leads to cumbersome complications in the oversight and regulation process. To support and maintain industry autonomy, every marketer has the responsibility to uphold the Ethical Guidelines. To do is for the good of consumers, our market economy, and the marketing industry as a whole.

When beginning a career in Marketing, all these considerations can seem daunting. It is wise to prepare oneself by reviewing the AMA guidelines, and spending some time drafting one’s own personal guidelines. Decided ahead of time, boundaries are easier to observe and maintain when challenged. For me, personally, I gravitate toward representing products I am genuinely enthusiastic about, and create a campaign focused on the merits and strengths of said product, rather than trying to devise ways to swindle the customer into buying something. Of course, when first starting out on this new career, it is not always possible to choose the most preferable products or companies to represent while working to populate a resume. Regardless of the task, however, one can always observe a commitment to integrity and maintaining good ethical standards. Place this commitment as priority, and one will build a reputation as an effective and reliable marketer!

References:

American Marketing Association, Statement of Ethics, Retrieved from: https://www.ama.org/codes-of-conduct/

Clow, K. E. Integrated Advertising, Promotion, and Marketing Communications. [MBS Direct]. Retrieved from https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780134485027/

Used Cars Poster (10/25/2019) Meansheets.com2011/04/20/used-cars-posters/

Pinterest.com/pin/369576713145502000/

Author’s own Snapchat image, SnapCat.com/sunhfam

Tag: marketing

A Marketer’s Secret Life as a Consumer