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I have always wondered how a world without marketing would look. I think marketing has a net negative effect. I also think that maybe you cannot eliminate all m
by adalacelove 2y ago
I have always wondered how a world without marketing would look. I think marketing has a net negative effect. I also think that maybe you cannot eliminate all marketing but you can easily eliminate most of it just by controlling the spending of big companies, so it's possible. I have no ethical problems with eliminating it, as I consider it a form of manipulation and falsehood spreading, and anyway I don't consider companies have a right to free speech, or any real rights for that matter.
- m463 2y agoI kind of wonder how far you want to go with these sorts of things. Would controlling things like this bleed into adjacent social controls, like how HOAs will prevent any house from looking too different? Or possibly take on other dimensions, like sponsored in-real-life product placement and word-of-mouth?
- pedrogpimenta 2y agoAs far as it makes sense and has a positive effect, don't be a pain.
- dwaltrip 2y agoI don’t think this is a real concern. Regular people living their lives like to make arbitrary changes to their houses, which is why HOA rules are contentious. Regular people aren’t paid to advertise as they go about their day. It’s not very comparable. And I’ve never heard anyone suggest that word of mouth recommendations should be banned... That’s kind of an insane idea that isn’t even remotely possible.
- 6510 2y ago> I have always wondered how a world without marketing would look. We would all be standing there at the entrance of the supermarket exchanging awkward looks not knowing what to do until an old lady shows up and we grab a cart because she did. Then we follow her around the store pretending not to be looking, buying the same products. When everyone has paid and the old lady is long gone we have conversations about what to do with the things we've just purchased.
- boomboomsubban 2y agoYour vision of a world without marketing doesn't have children raised by adults? How would that work?
- account42 2y agoIs this supposed to be sarcasm? Genuinely stumped what you are trying to say because the literal interpretation of your comment makes zero sense.
- 6510 2y agoOh man, I thought it was completely obvious what marketing is. It takes effort to bridge the gap between users and manufacturers. We are used to the company doing the work and picking up the bill but the customer has as much need to figure out what solutions are available. Having the company search the customer only barely works. It works but very poorly and only to some extend. The potential client feels bothered by the noise of endless offers and spends very little time on them. In stead of dangling your garden set in their face until one of them bites you can put it in a store next to the other garden sets. Because pushing barely work products are limited to that what is instantly obvious. Customers may also gather and inform themselves. They might willingly go to a conference and sit though lengthy presentations. In stead of screaming at you that I offer an email service a presentation is more about what sets it apart [say] its scripting interface. If stores and conferences are still considered marketing the customer will have to put in more work to stay informed. They would tend more towards objective side by side comparison making the company more about the product than about marketing. The pun of my joke was that customers are not stupid. They can find the breakfast cereal aisle and pick something entirely by themselves. I thought it was obvious since the screaming contest is enormously frustrating. An overpriced mediocre product will allow for the largest budget which is most likely to win - so that is what you have to make? lame
- AnthonyMouse 2y agoSo I'm curious. Suppose you're starting a new small business. You're selling a quality product but nobody knows about you. How do you propose they find out?
- tapland 2y agoWell, when was the last time someone saw something like that advertised on billboards? Can’t remember ever seeing anything like it on a billboard outside SF which is a very weird special case
- adalacelove 2y agoYour product can be listed somewhere, discovered, word of mouth... The thing is you cannot pay to promote it. I agree it would be a challenge to solve, maybe some kind of compromise could be achieved.
- abdullahkhalids 2y agoPartial answer: A lot of products people buy are not directly from the maker, but some store. So instead of marketing directly to consumers, the maker can just go and pitch to the store owner, who then carries the product. If there are enough stores out there (not a world full of Walmarts), then most makers will find many stores to carry their product. People go to the store, browse and buy.
- richrichardsson 2y ago> A lot of products people buy are not directly from the maker, but some store. How does this account for high streets becoming ghost towns in the UK? It seems like running bricks & mortar stores in the UK isn't financially viable.
- Ylpertnodi 2y agoWell, ads obviously haven't worked...
- nonrandomstring 2y ago
- kortilla 2y agoA lot of marketing is not falsehood spreading. It’s literally just trying to get the word to potential customers that a thing exists that might be useful to them. Most b2b marketing is like that. I agree that marketing where they have an attractive person just show something is manipulative though.
- kelnos 2y agoShow me an ad that you think is just "trying to get the word out" and I'll show you the lies.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- kortilla 2y agoSure, google “skid steer rental Chicago”. One of the sponsored results is for an electric skid steer that I didn’t know existed. This is genuinely useful to know for small jobs. Another sponsored result is for a delivery rental service that can bring them anywhere. Also good to know for jobs where I don’t want to go to an equipment rental place in the city to haul it myself to a site 150 miles away. A separate example is that lots of airports have 3rd party off airport parking that is cheaper. A billboard on the highway to the airport that says “off-site aport parking $20/day, $80/week with 24/7 shuttle service every 15 mins” is literally all just useful information about a way to save money using a third party at a convenience cost that you wouldn’t think to look into.
- account42 2y ago-Xoogler working in the startup world Please consider that your worldview may be warped.
- kortilla 2y agoPlease consider you might not understand why I left.
- barnabee 2y ago
- baxtr 2y agoYour post is actually a form of marketing. Marketing for a certain idea, world view. Some may agree, others won’t. That’s what we do as species. We talk, we collaborate, we argue, we market.
- adalacelove 2y agoI don't think so. For me the real test is whether or not someone is giving me a monetary incentive. The very act of having to pay someone to say something increases the probability of it being a lie
- baxtr 2y agoFor me the real test is whether or not someone is trying to persuade other human beings towards a certain action. An action that is favourable for you. This can be monetary of course. But this could also be ballot vote on election day. This could be a change in behaviour of people to drive less cars, but take the train instead. Or convince people that advertising should be banned for large corporates. Marketing is the art and science of achieving behavioural changes to your benefit.
- defrost 2y agoMost in the ad game would see it as claiming behavioural changes to the benefit of clients in exchange for cash and reputation. Marketing is as much about selling a vision to a client as it is about moving the public. There are plenty of pointless rebranding campaigns.
- barnabee 2y ago> For me the real test is whether or not someone is trying to persuade other human beings towards a certain action. An action that is favourable for you. I think the test for me, at least for the kind of marketing/advertising that should be banned, is the passiveness of it. If, while going through my day, I am interrupted by your billboard, banner ad, spam email, promotional app notification, street marketing person, etc. in an attempt to manipulate me into action, that is the thing that should be illegal. If I walk into a shop and say "I'm looking for a camera", invite a business in to pitch for work, call somoene up for a quote, directly enter a query like "buy camera uk" into a search engine, etc. then I think that is ok. I have asked to be sold to, and I am mentally prepared for the fact of that happening (notwithstanding that certain techniques should maybe also not be allowed).
- atemerev 2y agoWell, if you try to run your own business of any type, you suddenly realize why there's need for marketing. Things don't sell themselves. Nobody beats a path to your door even with the best of mousetraps.
- account42 2y ago... because your competitiors are using ads to manipulate your potential customers into buying from them instead of you. Do you think people would just stop eating because restaurants/grocery stores were not allowed to advertise?
- atemerev 2y agoI would stop eating because I wouldn’t be able to sell my products and won’t have money to go to restaurants! Like most of the people who don’t work for employers (so they could outsource their marketing efforts to corporations), and have to market their efforts.
- account42 2y agoI can see why you would have trouble gaining customers without deception when you are not even able to answer a simple question honestly.