*Unlike what you might think, this is not another marketing article. You can come and visit me in jail after reading it.*
If you go to Google and type “is marketing evil?” – you will get a Wikipedia answer stating that YES, marketing is inherently evil, because of the main reason that it damages personal autonomy. But this is just one of the many wrongs it does to society and to individuals, and frankly, Wikipedia is not even aware properly of them yet.
In my professional experience so far, I always had a love-hate relationship with marketing. I love it for the creative part of telling stories through brands and building up beautiful things to express values, and strategies and get closer to the audience. As long as everything is transparent, true, genuine, and real, marketing is the most spectacular tool to emphasize those traits and to promote them toward society; and whenever it contains the opposite of that, is just a maleficent maneuver to corrupt people’s minds for the sake of businesses’ appetite and profits.
Marketing is the tool that has the power of changing mindsets, creating lifestyles, educating people, building up communities, and even making revolutions happen.
A great idea isn’t great if it’s not sustained by a striking marketing strategy. It’s not the idea in itself that makes it great, but the marketing that promotes it as such.
Being considered as the tool that can make wanders in sales, marketers have exploited various paths to get the results they want. Even following illegal, wrong, and manipulative strategies.
To get you more aware of that, here are 7 of the deadliest sins, where this shady side of marketing is prevailing.
1. Breaking Privacy
If you’re an Albanian, you’ve probably heard the word “patronazhist”, flowing around like a ghost all over the country, before the parliamentary elections held a couple of years ago.
The “Patronazhist” it’s like a patron whose job is to observe and supervise a list of random voters and try conveying them in their electorate. It’s like those people who knock on your door, asking if you have 5 minutes to dedicate to The Lord. You know of whom I’m talking about, so let’s move on.
These guys were considered spies, part of a political party system, with the aim to gather information about voters and have an idea of their electorate. At least, this was what was said.
The scandal which lasted only for three days, faded away quietly, (because the party that was involved in it, has a mastermind behind their communication strategy), and people, got back to sleep, unworried about their lack of privacy and exploitation of their personal data.
The database that was leaked onto the internet was a full list of every adult citizen of the country, including immigrants, and contained their ID numbers, phone numbers, political orientation, previous vote (too accurate in my opinion), and other additional comments related to each individual.
I’m very much convinced the list that was leaked, wasn’t quite complete with information. The source portal from where it leaked, had information about the economic state of each individual, as well. Thus, giving this political party the opportunity to define those voters, whose rights could be bought with small efforts and little money.
Now, to clarify those of you who might be wondering “what on earth does this have to do with marketing?” – let me explain it to you with a question. Have you ever heard of CDPs, aka Customer Data Platforms? It’s the most prominent marketing tool of these days and is being considered the Messiah of the Marketing Budget.
A CDP is a software platform that can capture all your customer data from multiple channels and consolidate it in a single, unified source, allowing marketers to have targeted advertising and better management of the budget. These platforms gather information about people like their credentials, their salaries, their economic budgets, their expenditures, their likes and interests, and contact information. Just like the “patronazhisti” list, that I’ve mentioned above.
These platforms, even if they state to not break any privacy law, they use the personal information they have, for brands' and companies' benefit. Is this breaking the basic human right of privacy? Absolutely! It’s what Facebook did some years ago (and pretty sure still continues to do), in selling its user’s data to political parties.
In the “patronazhisti” case, the information that was showcased everywhere was taken from a state portal and could be used for different purposes. In the election case, it’s a complete CDP made for its marketing strategy.
The same goes for call centers, or promotional calls/message offers people get from brands, who are using their personal data without consent.
2. The Bad Guy culture
Let’s presume you hear some shouting coming from outside your open window. In which case would you run to the window to see what’s going on… when hearing shouts and swearing of someone’s fighting, or when hearing laughs and celebration? When would your curiosity peak?
According to science, as humans, we crave conflict because we know deep down that conflict creates transformation. It breaks the routine, and sparks enjoyment of new events unfolding. We love to see conflicts, pick sides, and see how the hero will solve the problem he is facing. Also, we love to gossip and new conflicts are the perfect topic to discuss with others.
Conflict aka bad situations, can spark interest and grab people’s attention more quickly and intensively than a good one. That’s why the Kardashians are making billions out of their lifestyle. Because people love to see their bad behavior on TV, discuss it with their friends, and crave more. The results? Medias talking more about them, giving them more showtime, more articles, more space, more spotlight, more focus. Because this is how they grab people’s attention and raise their viewership, readability, and engagement.
How does this translate to the Kardashians? More bling-bling, more followers, more sales of their products, and more power.
The Kardashians have created this type of culture. When something is displayed a lot and promoted a lot, people want to mimic it. Because being like them means being rich, famous, and powerful.
The bad guy culture is now a phenomenon that holds more than 70% of the total media coverage. News editions that talk only about murders, robbing, drugs, bad politics, and frauds; TV shows like “Big Brother”, that stimulate bad behavior, and showcase people without morals – broadcasting them in prime time while trying to glorify them; other talk shows, inviting these people, and discussing them; tabloids displaying them in front pages; brands hiring them as influencers and giving them more attention. The same faces are everywhere!
Take singers for example, how do they behave? How are their lyrics? Do they talk about virtues and poetry anymore? Nope! They talk about drugs, and alcohol, use NSFW words, and promote bad morality. Why? Because this is what sells, what grabs attention, and what is being promoted. Just for the sake of profit, brands, and media follow this strategy. What is it called? Pure evil marketing.
3. Paid Opinions
Two weeks ago, I went to a drugstore to buy sunscreen. I asked the pharmacist for a professional suggestion in accordance with my skin type. She immediately grabbed the product that was positioned over her counter and started promoting it to me unstoppably. Even when I looked at some other brand, she insisted on the one she picked at the beginning. I had a look around the store and saw two roll-up banners displaying that same sunscreen that she was promoting to me. She even added “every celebrity is using this cream”, at one point in her monologue. “Just check social media, - she said. - You will see that only famous people are using it”. I stopped. Too many red flags bounced in front of my face. Finally, I chose a never-heard brand, with no social media presence and a very official and elegant website. No influencers, no fake promotions, and no ugly advertisements.
I don’t blame the product though; it could have been a great sunscreen for real, who knows?! But the fact of using too many marketing tools and promoting it so badly has put its credibility in question. There are two types of strategies. The one with a 360-degree communication approach and the one with zero marketing at all. It depends on the brand, industry, and type of campaign. Over-usage is very damageable to one’s image and creates distrust.
Buying products these days has become very difficult. This new trend of marketing has forced brands to invade the only source of true content customers had – reviews and genuine suggestions. Now you can get paid in writing fake reviews on Amazon or everywhere else. Influencers promoting brands just for the sake of money, even if their niche has nothing to do with the ones of the brand. It’s insane! This factor is getting out of control and people are getting lied to and manipulated while throwing their money away.
Customer reviews have been shown to influence sales. Shoppers trust opinions from their peers more than they trust product descriptions. That’s why marketing is misusing these platforms to sell more and gain more profit.
I mean, have you ever gone to a library to buy a just-published book and read “A New York Times bestseller” on its cover? When did it become a bestseller, when it just launched? And by the way, when you read it, you realize it’s pure garbage.
Even awards are becoming unreliable nowadays. No genuine opinions or selections.
Nobels, Oscars, Grammys – awarding people not because of their talents but because of politics, buzz, and viewership.
4. Promoting false statements
Have you seen “Seaspiracy”? It’s an environmental documentary from Netflix, that is getting a lot of buzz and is forcing politics in taking real steps toward climate change and illegal fishing. In my humble opinion, it’s one of the best documentaries ever made. Anyway, during the film, there is a point where the creators discover the fakeness of the “dolphin-safe” label, displayed in most of the tuna cans, that are being sold worldwide. The label, not only is a fake one, with no real preventions or measures behind its meaning, but also a fraud. The truth is that dolphins are being slaughtered, while the big fishing companies are destroying the oceanic ecosystem when fishing for tuna.
This is not just a one-time example. There are many brands, that encourage CSR campaigns with the aim of reaching more audiences, and not keeping their promises. Announcing huge campaigns in sustainability matters and just cultivating a bunch of trees, making some videos and pictures, and forgetting about it all, after a minute. That’s what happens when the company doesn’t understand and underestimates the value of suitability and misuses it just to mislead the customers. They do it, not because it is important to the community, and to the planet in itself, but because it’s marketing required. A total scam.
I mean, take Coca-Cola for example. The so much discussed secret formula kept in a high security safe, never to be shown to the public, – might be in fact a pure marketing tactic.
Have you tasted Pepsi? Yes, you have. Have you ever tried blind testing them both? I did. And even though I knew Coke better than a lot of people (having worked for Coke for a couple of years as a brand manager), got confused and was not able to distinguish Coke from Pepsi. They’re pretty much the same. Pepsi might taste a little sweeter, because of the highest percentage of sugar in it, but that's it. No other differences. Then, where does the secret formula stands?
What about the “no sugar” label on a lot of products? Is it true? Yes, it’s true that the products may not contain sugar, but added artificial sweeteners instead, which are even worst for one’s health. While they’re promoting these products as non-diabetic, healthy, and dietic.
What about Vodafone? Promoting communication packages, for example with 20GB internet, and what you really get it’s a pitiful 3 GB maximum with low speed.
How do we call all this? Pure marketing evilness.
5. Building false perceptions and destroying confidence
What’s the name of those waistbands that celebrities are putting on when working out, to get that hourglass shape everyone desires? Oh yes, plastic surgery, that’s what they’re called.
Activewear, hair products, face creams, tanning products, clothes, diet products, and else, are all massive scams. Don’t get me wrong, some of them might work a little, but for sure do not work as much as they're being promoted.
What does that bring to the table of a helpless, distressed consumer? More distress and lower levels of confidence.
I mean, I know these products have the right to exist, and if they can do some good, let them do it, but do not promote things beyond reality. A product should display only the benefits it offers, and meet real expectations.
6. Making people buy things they don’t need
Come on now, how many times has this happened to you? Toooo many freaking times sir!
Just by going to the grocery store, 20% of your purchases are unplanned purchases and probably things that you really do not need and will never use. Why did you buy them? Because they were displayed beautifully in the store or shared a message that you couldn’t resist, or played with you mentally and made you believe that yes, you need this product right now!
How about those emails, sponsored ads, and pop-ups that appear with a subtle notification on your phone or computer, every time you open the internet? Sweet baby Jesus, those are the worst. I have half of my closet with clothes that I never wore and never will. Damn it!
7. The Cherry Blossoming Scheme
Cherry blossoming is the practice of buying social media followers and fans. This term has its origins in Japan, where companies, sports teams, and minor celebrities hire professional fans, called sakura, meaning cherry blossoms.
This isn’t just a localized case. There are also other types of scams, where companies buy already established accounts with millions of followers, from hackers or people who make their living from these speculative schemes and use them as theirs.
There are also a ton of apps that offer fake likes, fake followers, and fake comments, gained with little effort, for the sole purpose of making the brand appear likable, trustworthy, and popular.
These evil tactics can boost the social media of one particular brand with a fake engagement while deliberately trying to break the algorithm without the need for genuine numbers.
You might feel a little dizzy from what you’ve read so far, and maybe a bit overwhelmed by these evil tactics of marketing, but as Pythagoras beautifully said “If there be light, then there is darkness; if cold, heat; if height, depth; if solid, fluid; if hard, soft; if rough, smooth; if calm, tempest; if prosperity, adversity; if life, death.”
So don’t get upset with marketing. It can still be beautiful and honest. Be smart next time, keep an eye out for those enchanted notifications, and go remove those unneeded items from your shopping cart, right now.
Σχόλια