Know-How Exchange : Just for Fun

I think your friend's brother's assertion that having the right personality is the key to never being made accountable for failure. I don't think being in marketing has anything to do with it.

There are plenty of people in the world who are very good at deflecting criticism. They have a million excuses or reasons why they are not to blame for a failure. And sometimes they are very convincing...and likeable. If the stars are in alignment for this person, they can probably go very far in a company. I like to think, however, that eventually there will be someone involved who will just say, "The numbers don't lie. Do you really have any idea what you're doing?"

As for the doctor who loses a patient, that, too, is part of the profession, and a doctor whose patient dies is not necessarily a bad doctor. And we all know that there are bad mechanics who remain in business for years and years.

It's true from your friend's brother perspective. If he's developed a successful teflon business persona, and he continues to be employed, then it works for him. However, in any business, there's always a range of personalities, skills, and needs. It sounds like he found a great fit for his.

your brothers friend is exactly correct..

Allow me to share a secret from the underground world of the marketing professional.

"We all get paid millions for doing just about nothing, its a great life. The key is limited the number of new members to the secret society. But you seem like a pretty nice guy so I am going to give you the secret greeting. You simply say (Deleted by Staff) to any prospective employer. Then add the phrase xxxxxxxxx xxxxx to your resume. "

Good luck and welcome to the group,

Well I personally like the direction you are headed. Perhaps if you can never do anything wrong, we marketers are all headed for greatness. Hmmmm. Change of course. let's see what would I like to do next.

How about President of the United States.

But seriously when you are a doctor/surgeon... It is the nurses that talk behind your back.

When you are the mechanic, its the parts guys and the customers both that wish you were in someplace not so nice.

When you are in marketing, everyone talks behind your back. They hate your latest promotion, it's too highbrow or its too low. They don't understand why you can't give them tools to do that. (whatever that is). You can never seem to please anyone so like the song says "you got to please yourself"

Anyway...tell me where your bro just left... I'm sure that 300k would be very much appreciated by my spouse.

best regards
Phil "da marketing profs resident auctioneer & super genius"

The lack of accountability in the marketing industry is well known. It's the reason why you'll see some marketers position themselves or their company as "accountable" and "reliable." For me, accountability is a part of my character, therefore I will always do what I think is the right thing. But of course, what is the "right thing"? It can be different for other people. Any profession whose outcome depends on other peoples' performance (e.g., the consumer market's responses to ads), requires that we state the obvious to our client or to the company we work for: that we cannot guarantee results. We can only do our best to assess their outcome based on experience, proficiency, studies, etc. Backing off from a guaranteed result, of course, dilutes the "accountability" promise, whether we want it to be so or not.

The real issue is that a great part of marketing is based on "perception," that is, influencing other people to think about a product or service the way that the marketer is trying to make them think of it -- en masse. After all, you can't really believe that Budweiser is the King of All Beers (especially not if you taste it). This is a metaphor, it's not real, but it's marketing. Is it BS? No. It's the use of a good metaphor to make a point that the Busch company wants to drive across a segment of the consumer market. Are you really in good hands with Allstate and, if you don't think so, is the company lying?

When you add these two elements together, (1) the dilution of a marketer's good intentions as to accountability, and (2) the "make believe" world that marketing encompasses, you end up in an environment in which imagination plays a great part. As long as you don't violate the law, you can use that imagination pretty much however you want. This can be a slippery slope, however, because if you let your imagination go overboard, it can backfire and damage your and your company's or your client's image and reputation.

I think the best way to approach a marketing career is to do so with the best intentions because ultimately you have a fiduciary duty to your client and also a responsibility to your employer or to your own business. I have a bit of a problem with the kind of "smart alecky" way you describe your friend's explanation of the marketing world. Perhaps he's become jaded . . . it can happen.

As for marketing being an old boys network, there's a lot of truth in that, but you don't have to join it and you can let it not affect you (although in truth, their contacts are usually primo). You'll also find these same people who make up the "old boys network" live under a delusion about themselves, who they are and their capabilities, which is all a part of the imagination game. It's clear that to some people, playing make believe has gone overboard.

But that's my opinion, not science.