Is Marketing a dirty word?

I think it is.

I don't personally believe all marketing is evil. But I know people who do. And that's why it's kind of a dirty word. It conjures images of suited, rat-faced men sitting around a shiny oval table working out ways to manipulate toddlers into getting their parents to spend their hard earned dollars on something unhealthy and inherently amoral.

There are, however, ways to avoid becoming devilspawn if you're in marketing.

The first one is to like your clients and believe in their products or services. If you are lying about products and saying they are great when actually they are rubbish then you possibly ARE devilspawn. Not that I'm judging.

The second one is to help your clients identify what is truly special about their business or product and to find effective ways to say this. So even if you like the shampoo your client is selling because it gives you shiny hair, saying it will prevent male pattern baldness is not cool. Devilspawn again.

The third one is to settle on value propositions or unique selling points that your client can and will embrace and own. If they don't agree, then you are banging your head against a brick wall. For example, if you argue that the most special thing about them is their personalised service but they think it's really their fast response time, then the message will be diluted because the minute you're not around they will go back to the fast response time thing with prospective customers. You're doing them and yourself a disservice to push something they're not fully comfortable with.

Lastly, help them market to people who actually need/want/can afford the product. Not ice to Eskimos, but pest control checks to people in danger of termite infestation. Strong investment opportunities to people with investing capacity. Shampoo to people with dull hair. It's okay to market to these people because you actually have something they want and need - and you won't lose sleep at night because you've tricked or manipulated people.

Sweet marketing dreams!