Marketing Lesson - Responsible Marketing

Marketers have a responsibility to serve the public's well-being.

Marketing has been criticized for its negative impacts on individuals, businesses, and society. Some companies use unfair practices to harm other businesses. Although there are laws, they can't keep up with so many unfair practices such as: acquiring competitors, using patents to protect processes, spending heavily on promotions, demanding exclusivity in channel partner contracts, unfair pricing below cost, and more.

Without marketing communications, buyers cannot learn about the goods and services, so marketing is vital.

Companies are realizing that consumers expect ethical marketing practices; therefore the organizations are expected to adhere to behavior that is socially responsible, culturally sensitive, and sustainable. A company following ethical marketing practices will organize itself around its customers' point perceptions of value, while searching for continuous improvement.

Marketers must also show responsibility to the marketing field itself. They must work towards advancing the field of marketing to higher standards of professionalism. This responsibility requires preparation, like participating in meetings, engaging in continuing education and maintaining the knowledge of laws and ethical codes.

Many individuals in marketing management are not prepared for the complex demands of the job and are not trying to learn and better themselves. Marketers also need to avoid deceptive communications, protecting individuals' privacy, and bringing transparency to organizational behavior.

Marketers are accountable to their employer organizations. When you accept a marketing position within an organization, you also accept an ethical responsibility to your employer. The marketer has the duty to give a full measure of effort in return for a paycheck. This responsibility includes supporting positive perception
of the brand, maintaining good relationships with channel partners, and contributing personally to create value.

All workers must take responsibility for their careers by committing to do original work and improving their knowledge and skills. That includes the commitment to working within the bounds of the law. A very good philosophy is the Brand You philosophy, where you develop your instinct for appropriate self-promotion and avoid inappropriate self-promotion. "Bragging will get Brand You nowhere, but becoming the best at what you do will."

Marketing is a very important business function. Some marketers work in organizations with marketing departments, while others work in agencies that provide specialized services to those organizations, and some become entrepreneurs and create organizations they lead.

Traditional marketers relied on four skill areas: personal selling, advertising communications, sales promotion, and marketing research. Employers today are hiring people who can create value that technology cannot. A successful marketer must be capable to adapt to changes and to innovate, as businesses practices evolve.