On my flight home a couple weeks ago, I sat next to a couple who seemed overzealous at the fact they were headed to LA for the first time.
After 30 minutes of small talk, they asked (nearly at the same time) “what’s your endeavor, Mark?”. And I replied, “I’m self-employed.” They brightened up & got intrigued, and the husband uttered, “ah, an entrepreneur, nice!” But when I elaborated & explained, “I’m a marketer and run a small marketing agency”, the energy shifted and they moved away – mentally (I felt like they were going to ring for the flight attendant to move their seats).
People don’t like marketers.
And they don’t like us, because 99.9% of us do marketing the wrong way. The old way. The lazy way. The selfish way. The cut corners way. The deceitful, gag me way.
Marketing isn’t manipulating people to get them to buy your mediocre stuff that they don’t need. It’s about empathy, humility, providing value, enriching lives, innovation, connecting a tribe, leading people that want to be lead, and telling stories that resonate.
Marketers: get your shit together.
P.S. The dude on the plane ended up being a CFO for a fairly large organization and emailed me today to chat with his team. (Hence the trigger to write this). I guess some people like some marketers.
