m-cause

Are marketers amoral?  This is the question that the Sam asks over on his blog New Breed of Advertisers…not only does he ask the question to his community, but he also put his blog community through a survey.  Click here to check out the results in detail.  And yes, you guessed it, (sadly) marketers are indeed amoral according to the poll.   Sam seems to have gotten the inspiration for the interesting post from Rob Walker, author of the book Buying In and the blog Murketing.  Here is Rob’s answer to the question in an interview he did with Brandweek:

Brandweek: What is your opinion about marketing? A lot of the book seems to be about how marketing is just an updated, more sophisticated version of selling snake oil. Are marketers amoral?

Walker: Well, you know, some of my best friends are marketers. Really, I don’t have a problem with anybody doing his job, and I don’t think there’s anything productive about demonizing marketers. My point of view is that consumers can’t blame anyone but themselves for their purchase decisions, and the consequences of those decisions, both on a personal level and a societal level. Marketers didn’t dictate massive demand for four-wheel-drive SUVs for driving around city streets. Consumers demanded that. Of course marketers did their best to exploit that demand to the fullest, but there’s just nothing productive, in my view, about scapegoating anybody.

I do sometimes wish that all the amazing creative firepower in the marketing industry could be aimed in some more useful direction. I know agencies all do their public service projects and so on. But one of the most frustrating conversations I ever had with a marketing friend involved him saying he wished he could get better pro-bono clients, or something like that. Well why do you need a pro-bono client? Isn’t there something you, personally, believe in? Can’t you deploy your skills on behalf of whatever that thing might be?

This is a pretty heavy debate, so where does the marketing zen master Seth Godin net out on this?  Interestingly, Seth recently wrote a great post recently where he basically agrees with Rob, noting that consumers are complicit when they purchase from organizations they don’t believe in…and, in a world where everyone can be an (online) journalist and spread their own ideas, consumers have more power than ever to warn others or pan products as they see fit.

I don’t consider marketing as amoral per se.  I do consider some industries to be amoral…and, I agree with Rob that marketing firepower could be directed (more often) in purposeful ways.  Indeed, marketing has the power to nudge people toward positive decisions.  And, I also agree with Seth.  Consumers now have the power to expose amoral marketers or industries or whatever else they feel is amoral.  Consumers have never been so empowered…

I have not yet read Rob’s book yet, and I will certainly have more to say on this topic in the future, but it is getting late.  I would be happy to hear your comments on the debate.  Where do you net out on this?