Moreover, social entrepreneurs tend to view profit-seeking business people as money-grubbing and selfish with little concern about the greater good. Even worse, they tend to view marketers as slimy, sleazy liars.
In an effort to shatter these stereotypes and bring together both sides for the greater good, it is first necessary to explore the question -
Why do intelligent people wanting to use their intelligence to solve the world’s social problems tend to shun marketing?
Many culprits There are many reasons for this negative view of marketing. Here are just a few of them. Our culture disparages it. From Arthur Miller’s classic, Death of A Salesman, to Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, and the TV hit Mad Men, marketers are frequently depicted in a negative light. Many universities don’t teach it. Many academics think it is beneath them and often look down upon marketing as a soft subject. Some view selling as a mortal sin. Those that do offer courses in sales typically hire adjunct professors from outside academia to teach it. Too many have learned on the job. Since there are few good places to learn, too many marketing people learn on the job from bosses that have acquired bad habits.
This tends to perpetuate the negative stereotypes about marketing and selling. No quality control or licensing standards. Unlike CPAs, lawyers, architects, and doctors, marketing has no quality control or licensing standards that require passing comprehensive exams. As a result, the marketing profession is populated by a wide range of people with varying skills and ethics - from slimy, sleazy liars to some of the most professional and talented people in the world. Of course, when stereotypes are formed, “stereotypers” tend to use examples from the bottom of the barrel. Fear of rejection.
Those that tend to be more intelligent and socially-conscious (the ones who gravitate to social entrepreneurship) tend to be more sensitive to rejection - a natural part of the sales process. The fear of rejection is often given as a reason why so many shun marketing/sales. Given these misunderstandings and the fact that marketing is a critically important function to the success of any enterprise - social or not - what is the solution? Better understand the importance of marketing To explain the importance of marketing and convince a skeptical audience to believe it, it is useful to quote a well-respected independent credible third party who was not even a marketer. I choose the late Peter Drucker - a management guru, professor at the Claremont Colleges, and the person who is considered the father of management consulting. Druker placed marketing on the highest pedestal possible.
He is quoted as saying, “Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two - and only two - basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business.” In the same vein, David Packer co-founder of Hewlett-Packard famously said, “marketing is too important to be left to the marketing people.” This emphasized its importance at the same he castigated most marketers for not knowing : An Social Jun 19, 2016 Updated Jun 19, 2016 Ira Kalb Assistant Professor of Clinical Marketing, Marshall School of Business,University of Southern California For the second time, I have been asked to teach a course in Marketing for the esteemed Master of Science in Social Entrepreneurship Program at University of Southern California (USC).
The primary reason is that business people and social entrepreneurs tend to misunderstand each other. Business executives typically look at social entrepreneurs as bleeding-heart do-gooders that waste their time chasing after lost causes. Moreover, social entrepreneurs tend to view profit-seeking business people as money-grubbing and selfish with little concern about the greater good. Even worse, they tend to view marketers as slimy, sleazy liars. In an effort to shatter these stereotypes and bring together both sides for the greater good, it is first necessary to explore the question - Why do intelligent people wanting to use their intelligence to solve the world’s social problems tend to shun marketing?
Many culprits There are many reasons for this negative view of marketing. Here are just a few of them. Our culture disparages it. From Arthur Miller’s classic, Death of A Salesman, to Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, and the TV hit Mad Men, marketers are frequently depicted in a negative light. Many universities don’t teach it. Many academics think it is beneath them and often look down upon marketing as a soft subject. Some view selling as a mortal sin. Those that do offer courses in sales typically hire adjunct professors from outside academia to teach it. Too many have learned on the job. Since there are few good places to learn, too many marketing people learn on the job from bosses that have acquired bad habits.
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