How Marketing Can Inspire, Motivate, or Prey
Can advertising make your life better?
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Have you ever encountered a brand that made you feel like a better version of yourself, not just sold you something? Marketing exists on a spectrum. Bad marketing preys on psychological triggers, good marketing motivates by connecting real solutions to real needs, and great marketing inspires by making customers feel capable of becoming a better version of themselves.
Have you ever struggled to explain what marketing actually is, beyond ads and slogans? You need a solid framework if you want to grow your business. Once we agree on what marketing means and how to view it at a fundamental level, we have a solid framework to expand into more advanced principles in future articles.
Not all marketing is created equal, and most of us have felt the difference firsthand. Some brands make us feel like a better version of ourselves. Others introduce us to a product that solves a problem we already had. And others push us toward a decision we almost immediately regret. Marketing falls on a spectrum: great marketing inspires, good marketing motivates, and bad marketing preys.
Great Marketing Inspires
I believe marketing is good for the world and that advertising makes my life better, though I’m sure this is not a popular opinion. As customers, we have been frustrated by the flood of ads interrupting our lives. As companies, we have been frustrated that marketing isn’t doing its job helping the bottom line…