What consumers don't want

Source: Pexels (https://www.pexels.com/photo/adult-casual-collection-fashion-296881/)

According to a MarketingSherpa-MECLABS survey, consumers hate it when brands (and their marketing):

• Put their own needs and wants above those of the consumers,
• Don't communicate in a way that builds relationships, and
• Try to sell them instead of providing value.

Marketing is essentially about either changing or reinforcing attitudes and/or behaviour.

Marketing communication is much more so.

A lot has to happen (or has happened) to move the consumer to the brand awareness stage.

And a lot more has to happen to convince them to make that transition from a prospect to a customer (or even a repeat one).

If alienated from marketing & business objectives, marcom can be nothing more than an expense—a tax write-off. It can be allowed to exist for its own sake, and even treated like a necessary evil.

Marcom of this variety festers as a knee-jerk reaction to market forces, such as the competition, a product/service category disruption, and the like.

Or, it merely serves as a vassal of the marketing manager's ego, whim, and/or opinion.

The result?

It tries to draw the consumer's attention to what can only be described as a nebulous product/service by drawing attention to itself (usually via no-brain "creativity"), and neglects to put the consumer first.

It communicates nothing of value to the consumer.

And it fails to offer service (Claude Hopkins) in the form of information the consumer needs/wants.

Not surprisingly, businesses don't think twice about pulling the plug on marcom budgets during internal, sectorial & economic downturns. Some businesses even look to marcom to solve a PR, business or some other non-marcom problem.

Marcom was, is and always will be about mass salesmanship—a means to an end. And like a good salesperson, only the most empathetic & resolute marcom is worth its salt.