A634.5.4.RB - Is Marketing Evil?

After reading the article by El Sayed and El Ghazaly (n.d.), discuss your views on the following:

1. Do you feel ethical guidelines make a difference to marketers?
2. How can companies balance the need to win with being ethical?
3. Is it ethical to track your buying habits or web visits to target you for marketing purposes?
4. As a leader, how will you manage the ethical aspects of your marketing efforts?

Ethical guidelines and if they are followed by marketers is based on the organization itself; not all marketers are liars, but some are better at others at presenting their products without bloating the truth about their capacities. Ethical guidelines should lead the process of creating promotional materials, because this process is integral to getting and maintaining customers.  El Sayed and El Ghazaly (n/d) note that “marketers try their best to attract and keep satisfied, the customer”; if a customer does not believe they have received a product that fulfills their needs adequately for the price point, they will not continue to buy it. Depending on its lasting time, they may also complain about the product and demand compensation. If they are put at great inconvenience because of the product, they may go further and sue. Shoe company Skechers, for instance, ended up paying a $40 million settlement for four types of shoes they promoted as having the ability to tone the body and aid in weight loss. Therefore, it is wise for marketers to consider the consequences of making amazing commercials but utilizing the product in a way that presents itself to accomplish things it certainly cannot. Sometimes the marketing is not weak in product, but in implementation. For example, trip schedule website

Funny, or fatal marketing?

Kayak had a commercial in 2014 that showed a man on a chairlift using his computer while passing an elderly woman gasping for air. This ad garnered mixed feelings from people finding it hilarious, to viewers being disgusted at the allusion to elder abuse. Though the ad really had nothing to do with the product, the way they go about marketing can persuade or dissuade customers from real interaction.

Balancing the needs of the customer for a quality product with the need to make a profit is an understandably difficult undertaking. However, there are companies that have been profiting off of international poverty and lax workplace standards to churn out cheaper products for themselves which still sell at ridiculous prices in the states. Manufacturing in Bangladesh, Nike’s head of sustainable business begged the company to reconsider opening shop there. Only after seeing clear violations of fire codes (bolted doors and windows barring safe escape) did he conglomerate reconsider. This issues is not new for Nike; factory-worker abuse and deaths, forced overtime and the use of certain hazardous chemicals in Nike-owned facilities has been in the public eye for 20 years. However, effective marketing has allowed for Nike to The top 10 selling sneakers in the U.S. year to date are all made by Nike, according to SportsOneSource’s analyst Matt Powell. And despite it’s low-wage factory development in counties like Indonesia, China, and Vietnam, it led the average men’s sneaker price in the U.S. to rise to a record $72.15 a pair so far this year from $63.17 in 2010 (Cheng, 2014). However, the shoes cost about a tenth of that to make. Consider the Air Jordan 10s, which are listed on Amazon for $250 to $550 a pair. These shoes cost $16 to make (O’Keefe, 2014).

Who could turn down a collection of $100 shoes when the company follows you through the internet. Because of search engine optimization and tracking, companies essentially stalk users, promoting to interests based on the sites visited. However, there are ways to turn off this tracking in most web Why is Facebook allowing companies to sell things on the side of my friends list?

This is annoying.

applications. It can be stressful to watch the same ads come up over and over again for a site someone visited once and did not find something you wanted. It can also lead to stress due to a pressure to spend money. We are already promoted to in our home through television ads, ads on Netflix before watching a video and occasional popups.

In terms of the marketing I lead for the department, on Facebook and Twitter, I only use facts to discuss the happenings of our department. I try to show that our department is forward thinking in making sure upcoming events and deadlines are shared long before the dates arrive, usually a month ahead, then two weeks, a week, and a few days ahead. We also put up relevant articles about STEM current events and display pictures of our staff doing interesting things in and for the office and housing communities. For example, on March 14^th, Pi Day, one of our Resident Assistants made cookies shaped like pi. I make sure we switch up how we promote ourselves so we that things cannot be assumed by our viewers to be true. For instance, we may have cookies or sweets I the office every week, but that is not our function, so I do not promote it weekly. We enjoy showing the special things that happen which make our office unique, particularly when it relates to the university theme.

Overall I believe the focus of our time should be on procuring knowledge, not things; however, marketers are both social commentators and litmus tests for how we gauge the world and what motivates us to engage in business. At times it is clear that ads are pushing the limit for wow value, but most are simply a mirror into our reality.

References

El Sayed, H. and El Ghazaly, I. (n/d). “Is Marketing Evil? Marketing Viewed as a tool.” Retrieved from http://www.ethicsbasedmarketing.net/2.html

Stampler, L. (2012). The 15 Biggest Lies Ever Told By Major Advertisers. Business Insider Inc. From http://www.businessinsider.com/the-biggest-lies-ever-told-by-major-advertisers-2012-11?op=1

O’Keefe, T. (2014). The ‘real’ costs of that pair of sneakers. Asheville Citizen Times. From http://www.citizen-times.com/story/opinion/contributors/2014/07/27/real-costs-pair-sneakers/13181055/

Cheng, Andria. (2014). After 34 years as a public company, Nike is still a growth stock. MarketWatch. From http://blogs.marketwatch.com/behindthestorefront/2014/09/26/after-34-years-as-a-public-company-nike-is-still-a-growth-stock/