How marketing makes you a better HUMAN BEING !

Biggest misconception in today’s era, rather it is a kind of thought process that has been conceptualized since generations ie “Marketing includes coercing customers, fooling them and cracking best deals which are beneficial for only companies”.  Whereas under the vast umbrella of marketing comes sales which is considered to be a push strategy of companies more than genuinely convincing customers. By nature sales is actually aggressive, target oriented and money driven. Marketers are glib talkers and considered to be pushy. Hence focus automatically shifts  on exploiting every opportunity in the market and perception goes on a toss. Forefront and mistakes get magnified. Center of attraction, represent co. externally

Why such Perception?

Other professions like finance which involve Chartered accountants and company secretaries taking oaths, medical sector(doctors who are last resort for a patient and they bet to be honest), has anyone ever thought why scams like Satyam, Ketan Parekh securities scam, speak Asia scam , etc happened ? If financial sector was clean unlike marketing (as perceived by people) these scams would have not taken place.

Business of all shapes and sizes care deeply about brand they create for their company. Customers are no longer just the loyal customers for co., but brand advocates. This HUMAN  ERA urges business & specially young marketers like us to be a PEER instead of SUPERIOR.

In fact if we open our eyes and stop thinking as a layman and for a minute look at things from different angle by which we can figure out the big changes happening in our society due to those campaign ideas given by “marketers” whom we perceive to be over persuasive. To name few I shall mention P&G’s latest campaign “touch the pickle”.  Taboos and prejudices are a part of Indian culture.  Here for instance in the case of menstruation related taboos in India, P&G's Whisper took a stand. It was a silent cry of revolution, asking women to break out of the period-related taboos that they have grown up with. This is how big companies like P&G take initiatives via marketing which benefit so much to the society. Brand’s purpose was to advocate women to reach their fullest potential.

Dove inspires women to choose beautiful and  urged them to embrace this personal choice so as to unlock happiness and confidence that impacts women’s self-esteem.Another such campaign was Fortune mother exchange program, an initiative of company for  mothers who’s children study in cities away from homeUnder the initiative, Fortune will connect mothers whose children are working or studying in different cities and enable them to take care of someone else's child, while some other mother takes care of theirs.'Mother Exchange' helps to deliver on an integral part of the 'Ghar Ka Khana' brand promise - ghar ka khana, ghar ka khana hota hai

 Through such programs we can certainly figure out the human angle which every other company is trying to give to it’s marketing strategy and is leaving behind a deep impact. Initiative taken by HUL to empower women through it’s campaign “Shakti Amma”.

Now let’s look at marketing by the lens of a layman ie  as a young marketer who shall enter these  big daddy’s of marketing soon in future. When we  study marketing in “kotler” , if we go deep and actually try to relate  things, we will be able to figure out marketing teaches us not only knowledge to increase the business and sales of the company, indirectly it pushes us to think more and more, as to how to benefit companies by benefiting society as a whole. Right from sales to branding, to advertising, each and every wing of   “umbrella of marketing” has a learning behind and a human angle attached to it.

According to Fortune knowledge group, surveying 720 U.S- based senior executives , nearly 65% of executives today rely on subjective human insights oriented values for decision making.

For instance, sales personnel have to meet hundreds of clients in a day, answer phone calls. Can they afford to sound rude? No, this will affect the brand. Hence slowly and gradually we don’t realize but sales make us POLITE and PATIENT. We become so habitual to listening to others and solve their queries that lately we come out as a mature person who can handle things in a far better way in our personal lives. As a marketing professional we have to be convincing and handle so many people at a time including the stakeholders, staff and the customers.   This inculcates an element of VIGILANCE in our attitude. We have to mind our words and have to be really sure about what to say and when to say. Another trait sales personnel usually have which is indeed deep is  EMPATHY (the ability to identify with customers, to feel what they are feeling and make customers feel respected. EMPATHY is much required to be a successful salesman, this person has persistence—a trait that is critical in the sales world because of the frequency of rejections salespeople experience. Finally sales pressure makes you STRUCTURED  , since he is the one who leads the customer

through the process and is organised and follows through.

 Apart from this if we notice critically why do we trust TATA more as compared to  RELIANCE?  It’s because of their values. Hence marketing world entirely revolves around human emotions.

This is how starting from scratch ie a normal sales man to biggies everyone fights to survive in the market by adding value to the society and hence become a better human being…..

Let’s change the perception of people towards sales..towards marketing. It’s  not just materialistic….It’s something else !

Think deep...We, young marketers have to make people believe that we make so much meaning to it by our skills and thoughts !

Let's be a better human via marketing channel !