{"id":261,"date":"2009-05-30T09:00:33","date_gmt":"2009-05-29T22:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mrpitcher.wordpress.com\/?p=261"},"modified":"2009-05-30T09:00:33","modified_gmt":"2009-05-29T22:00:33","slug":"marketing-vs-integrity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.razchorev.com\/newme\/marketing-vs-integrity\/","title":{"rendered":"Marketing Vs integrity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now that is an interesting topic, isn\u2019t it? Let me give you a definition of marketing \u2013 getting the product\/service out to market. Sounds simple, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

What about bad products\/services? The service providers, or product designers and manufacturers need to take their bad p\/s (too close to BS \u2013 don\u2019t you think?) to market as well, don\u2019t they.<\/p>\n

Suppose you had the best intentions at heart, really, and you thought you have the breakthrough, and your P\/S will change the life of millions of people, for the better. Suppose you have someone to back you financially, and together you\u2019ve invested a Million, no \u2013 a Billion dollars in research and development, and you\u2019ve made a great prototype, and ready to go to market.<\/p>\n

Sounds exciting \u2013 doesn\u2019t it?? Now imagine you could revolutionize one of the biggest industries in the world, let\u2019s say \u2013 the car industry. All enthused, you come up with a great plan to tell the world all about it. You get celebrity endorsers, political leaders to promote it, 1000\u2019s of people believe in your product and breakthrough, and act as evangelists. Fantastic, ey?<\/p>\n

Deep down though, whilst everyone is excited about the breakthrough, you discover that something went horribly wrong. You do your due diligence, and you find that you didn\u2019t take one factor into consideration (after all, you\u2019re human, and can make a mistake). That one factor, if found, will take the whole project off the production line \u2013 no breakthrough, and a Billion dollars down the drain…<\/p>\n

What do you do?\u00a0 Do you do the \u201cright thing\u201d or think of clever marketing tactics to hide the truth, and glorify the wrong?<\/p>\n

I know what Toyota did \u2013 and the Prius is on our roads today. Too many of them. Hybrid \u2013 how appropriate \u2013 it is the combination of great intentions, and crap implementation. Hybrid.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t make commercial sense to stop the production line, and go back to the drawing board. That\u2019s a pity, because they lead many people to believe they are helping the environment, while they actually causing more damage. Tax payers around the world fund these expensive \u201cgreen\u201d cars, which cause more damage to the environment than, let\u2019s say \u2013 the Yaris (a truly great product from Toyota).<\/p>\n

What about the Lexus V8 hybrid\u00a0 4\u00a0 wheel drive \u2013 used by moms to take the little ones comfortably to school and back, and to line up to get into the local shopping centre \u2013 V8 hybrid \u2013 you must be joking!<\/p>\n

This is when marketing went horribly wrong. Taking a product, creating a perception (and perception is reality, isn\u2019t it?), and selling the product to unsuspecting clients, thinking they are leading the world of environmentally friendly transportation. Or maybe this isn\u2019t the real reason people buy these cars?<\/p>\n

Could it just be that these people want to make a statement? \u201cHey, look at me \u2013 I\u2019m green, and IN\u201d. \u2018cause that would explain why the Honda Civic hybrid was such a flop \u2013 it looked exactly like the other Civics. No statement there.<\/p>\n

How about some integrity in marketing \u2013 when something is not right, you have options:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. You could admit you were wrong, and stop doing it.<\/li>\n
  2. You could ignore it, and hope nobody will notice.<\/li>\n
  3. You can cover it up with clever marketing, and create a movement of wrong. Toyota did it! Why can\u2019t you?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I know what I\u2019m doing, and have never claimed to be Greener than thou: I\u2019m riding my bike. A motorcycle. Why is it green? I don\u2019t take much space. I don\u2019t stand in traffic, blowing up smoke for hours on end. I don\u2019t cause accidents by being distracted by a phone, the radio, or a cigarette butt falling between my legs when I\u2019m riding. I go quickly and efficiently between A & B.<\/p>\n

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