5 ms·

marketing's incessant notion that lying to people is like a science of making money just makes me sad. make a good product, be honest about it, change plans if

by bchjam 11y ago

marketing's incessant notion that lying to people is like a science of making money just makes me sad. make a good product, be honest about it, change plans if noone cares, what's so bad about that?

TeMPOraL 11y ago
Competition. If you don't do it, you'll get outcompeted by those who do. It's not true in many areas (where the market isn't oversaturated), but that's the perception - so people go and blatantly lie even if they don't have to. It's a kind of problem that should be solved by social norms and regulations. They are way too lenient right now, and the continued acceptance of advertising as a respectable occupation perplexes me.
goodJobWalrus 11y ago
But how are people going to learn of your product (to either care or not care), if you don't reach out / market to them?
- gkya 11y ago
  The only ads that I've ever clicked are those of the Deck Network. Every business needs to reach out to people to find customers, but lieing is not necessary by any means. Tell us what you really do, and we'll buy if we are interested. If a company tricks me into buying their product when it is not the most adapted one, it's worse because I will switch away as soon as possible. If there is no lies and the service is good, I'll renew or suggest.
  - goodJobWalrus 11y ago
    Do you consider OP as lying in some way?
    - gkya 11y ago
      Their homepage header: "Work with the best designers and developers". This is at least exaggeration. It's the first time that I see the OP, so don't know a lot. In marketing there are these all the time. A company I worked for had this "style test" which new customers completed, and we suggested them a "personalised, designer-curated" items list via mail. It was not even ML, we splat them into three profiles based on the test, and made three different mails, sent each of them to the members respective profile. Each mail started with a title like "Your personalised style guide, tailored for you by our designers"... It's not a big blatant lie like saying "USA is a democracy", but still, it's a lie.
macNchz 11y ago
The 'if you build it, they will come' mentality is awfully naive...marketing doesn't have to be about lying, good marketing will get your product in front of people who want to use it, who may never have stumbled upon it otherwise.
- Sir_Substance 11y ago
  >good marketing will get your product in front of people who want to use it, who may never have stumbled upon it otherwise. The problem is there's only so much work that can be done in that area, and way more marketing agencies than quality work. The excess labor bleeds into mercenary work where advertising companies shill for whoever pays them, regardless of merit or ethics. Marketing helps products that would succeed anyway based on merit succeed faster and harder, and also helps unseat incumbents who have inertia but a bad product. It also allows products that should by every right sink like a lead balloon lurch haphazardly above the waterline, leaving behind a wake of cheated customers. Oh, if only we could trust people in marketing to refuse help to the latter.
waylandsmithers 11y ago
Kind of an extreme example (from Rich Dad Poor Dad), but most restaurants are capable of making a better hamburger than McDonalds.

by bchjam 11y ago

marketing's incessant notion that lying to people is like a science of making money just makes me sad. make a good product, be honest about it, change plans if noone cares, what's so bad about that?

TeMPOraL 11y ago

Competition. If you don't do it, you'll get outcompeted by those who do. It's not true in many areas (where the market isn't oversaturated), but that's the perception - so people go and blatantly lie even if they don't have to. It's a kind of problem that should be solved by social norms and regulations. They are way too lenient right now, and the continued acceptance of advertising as a respectable occupation perplexes me.

goodJobWalrus 11y ago

But how are people going to learn of your product (to either care or not care), if you don't reach out / market to them?

gkya 11y ago
The only ads that I've ever clicked are those of the Deck Network. Every business needs to reach out to people to find customers, but lieing is not necessary by any means. Tell us what you really do, and we'll buy if we are interested. If a company tricks me into buying their product when it is not the most adapted one, it's worse because I will switch away as soon as possible. If there is no lies and the service is good, I'll renew or suggest.
- goodJobWalrus 11y ago
  Do you consider OP as lying in some way?
  - gkya 11y ago
    Their homepage header: "Work with the best designers and developers". This is at least exaggeration. It's the first time that I see the OP, so don't know a lot. In marketing there are these all the time. A company I worked for had this "style test" which new customers completed, and we suggested them a "personalised, designer-curated" items list via mail. It was not even ML, we splat them into three profiles based on the test, and made three different mails, sent each of them to the members respective profile. Each mail started with a title like "Your personalised style guide, tailored for you by our designers"... It's not a big blatant lie like saying "USA is a democracy", but still, it's a lie.

macNchz 11y ago

The 'if you build it, they will come' mentality is awfully naive...marketing doesn't have to be about lying, good marketing will get your product in front of people who want to use it, who may never have stumbled upon it otherwise.

Sir_Substance 11y ago
>good marketing will get your product in front of people who want to use it, who may never have stumbled upon it otherwise. The problem is there's only so much work that can be done in that area, and way more marketing agencies than quality work. The excess labor bleeds into mercenary work where advertising companies shill for whoever pays them, regardless of merit or ethics. Marketing helps products that would succeed anyway based on merit succeed faster and harder, and also helps unseat incumbents who have inertia but a bad product. It also allows products that should by every right sink like a lead balloon lurch haphazardly above the waterline, leaving behind a wake of cheated customers. Oh, if only we could trust people in marketing to refuse help to the latter.

waylandsmithers 11y ago

Kind of an extreme example (from Rich Dad Poor Dad), but most restaurants are capable of making a better hamburger than McDonalds.