It’s All Marketing

This is not a political blog. But I got an interesting email from a respected colleague from the land down under. Speaking of a current conflict, under the subject line “Every Story Has Two Sides”, he says

As a sales & marketing professional, I always said the other side is doing a much better job at “selling” their misfortune.

Whether you agree with him or not, it reminded me, once again, that it’s ALL marketing. Everything. A student markets her essay to the professor. A city markets its appeal to prospective inhabitants. And a country at war markets itself and its plight to the world.

As a lawyer, I was taught to look for evidence. Audiences often eschew evidence in favour of impressions. As marketers, it’s our job to create those impressions. As audiences, it’s our responsibility to probe beyond them.