digibird on Saturday December 29, 2018

The Need for New Marketing

As a marketer I live in a new era when I feel the obligation not just to work so that we prove that marketing is moral but to stimulate consumers to consume less and to consume wisely.

By “marketing is moral” I mean the understanding of marketing as it was conceived by Philip Kotler and the like, i.e. the process of researching a market, defining its needs and organizing production processes to satisfy those needs at a profit. Versus a stereotyped understanding of marketing and advertising as ways to cheat people into buying what they might not really need.

By “consuming less” I mean the urgent necessity for all of us to restrict the resources of the Earth used to satisfy our needs. We already live at the cost of future generations. No longer can we think that the planet is at our disposal. We need to restrain from extravagance and steer clear of glamour. By sticking to basic needs, changing our fashions and simplifying habits, we can spare the resources of the planet and stop accelerating the climate change.

By “consuming wisely” I mean a conscious behavior of consumers who stimulate and reward clean tech and green tech companies, CO2-neutral supermarkets, recycling and upcycling companies by giving preference to their products and services. And a great trend is the growing number of both such consumers and organizations.

At the moment I am re-reading my favourite marketing book “Lateral marketing” and recollect how inspiring I found it 10 or 15 years ago. The thoughts I have now “how awe-inspiring the need for new marketing is”. In contrast to vertical and lateral marketing of the past, for the sake of future, new, modern marketing should not focus on the growth of current markets or on the creation of new markets, but on making both current and new markets sustainable. We need to support and promote the products and services of the companies which foster sustainability.

AWE-INSPIRING is the right word. Inspiring because it should be absolutely different (stimulating to consume less and wisely instead of consuming more and widely). Awesome because it seems inconceivably difficult to turn everything upside down.