The marketing industry is not often associated with campaigns that benefit the public, like those produced by the TAC. Rather, the word ‘marketing’ tends to conjure images of shady men in suits finding ways to sell consumers things they don’t really want or need. This criticism was well articulated by American Professor of Economics Colston Warne, who in 1961 described the industry as being focused on “the manipulation of human personality into profitable molds.” There is an element of truth to this perspective, but is it really fair to dismiss the whole marketing industry as a cesspool of trickery and greed?
Colin Jevons, Associate Professor in the Monash University Department of Marketing and course director of the Bachelor of Business, doesn’t subscribe to the view that marketing is evil. “Marketing is misunderstood, it has done a bad job of marketing itself,” he says, speaking from his corner office overlooking the city. Jevons comes across as quirky, affable and a little idealistic. He has years of experience in the market research industry and, as a respected academic, has developed strong opinions about the potential for marketing to be an agent of positivity in society.
Jevons is on a mission to eradicate “the assumption by good people that they don’t want to do marketing because it’s what bad people do.” In his opinion, if more good people put more energy into marketing things ethically and in the public interest, then society would be the better for it. He believes that if intelligent and passionate young people had skills in marketing, they would be better equipped to have a significant impact on the world.
In Jevons’ opinion, the process of marketing is amoral rather than immoral; a skill set that can be used equally to do good or bad. “Marketing isn’t the problem,” he says, “it is an effective means of encouraging voluntary behaviour change.” The basic psychology of marketing involves discovering the underlying desire of a consumer. Once a marketer knows a consumer’s desire, they can then create the perception that their product fulfills that desire. Smirnoff doesn’t sell vodka, it sells a wild party lifestyle. Tiffany & Co doesn’t sell diamonds, it sells elegance and class. The TAC doesn’t sell cautious driving, it sells avoidance of the danger and embarrassment of an accident. Jevons argues that there’s nothing inherently wrong with this process of persuasion. Rather, he believes that putting marketing skills in the hands of more ethically minded people could significantly improve society.
If more people knew how to ‘sell’ a charitable cause or social movement they are passionate about then they could, in Jevons’ opinion, significantly increase their chances of instigating social change. It’s true that the most successful Australian charities and social movements have strong brand identities; Oxfam, World Vision and Red Cross are all instantly recognisable across Australia. In 2010, environmental organisation Greenpeace used ingenious marketing strategies to pressure global food giant Nestlé into no longer using palm oil as an ingredient in Kit Kat chocolate bars. The production of palm oil leads to rainforest destruction and the death of orangutans, so Greenpeace created a parody advertisement in which a Kit Kat package contained dismembered orangutan fingers in place of chocolate. With the right marketing approach, Greenpeace managed to attract significant public attention and successfully pressure Nestlé into making major changes to their supply chain.
While the premise of socially responsible marketing is positive and inspiring, the issue remains that the vast majority of marketing money is spent by private industry in pursuit of profit, without giving thought to ethical considerations. Nestlé not only owns the brand Kit Kat, but also weight loss company Jenny Craig. It’s disturbing to realise that the company has a massive vested interest in consumers yo-yoing between unhealthy eating and dieting. An even more worrying example of morally questionable marketing is that of the tobacco industry. In 2012, an investigation by British newspaper The Independent found that “tobacco firms have taken advantage of lax marketing rules in developing countries by aggressively promoting cigarettes to new, young consumers, while using lawyers, lobby groups and carefully selected statistics to bully governments that attempt to quash the industry in the West.” These are just two examples of corporate behemoths at their worst, using marketing might to drown out the voices of common sense and basic morality.
Jevons accepts that marketing is often used as an agent of greed, but he doesn’t believe that this negates it’s positive potential. “Most is done by corporations for profit” he concedes, “but it can be used for the public benefit as well.” Whether marketing is being used to reduce drink driving, encourage donations to charity or save orangutans, Jevons makes the case that the art of persuasion is essential to getting good things done on a large scale. The world is full of people with good ideas waiting to be heard, but succeeding requires the tools to get people to listen.
Image: Greenpeace
