The 10 Worst Kept Secrets In The Marketing Industry

Marketing is essential for products or services to get out to the masses, and over the years has evolved and become highly efficient. Many products’ sales have hinged on successful marketing plans, and companies have won against competitors as a result of having a better marketing strategy.

However, with this evolution and increased efficiency come some morally objectionable things. Here are the 10 worst kept secrets marketing secrets in the industry.

10. You are a number to the marketers

A lot of marketing hinges on statistics and the ability to predict trends and the buying habits of different groups of people. Many products are marketed to a specific demographic, in what’s called market segmentation, where they break consumers down by age, race, sex, and other identifying attributes. While this might be something that’s known, it’s not something people regularly think about.

9. They Play with your Emotions

Everyone knows the feeling when Sarah Mclachlan comes onto your TV and asks for you to donate to the SPCA. What you may not know is that according to studies done on statistics from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, emotional ads performed at twice the rate than their rational counterparts.

8. They Target Children

Marketers have traditionally marketed products to children in the hopes that this will translate to sales once their parents purchase a product or service. Everything from breakfast cereal choices, where according to this study, children influence the decision 97% of the time, to software equipment and clothing purchases are all heavily influenced by children.

7. They Market ALL Products

It doesn’t matter if the product helps save lives, or helps destroy them, marketers usually have one goal–to increase brand awareness and thus improve sales. Everyone knows the popular show “Mad Men” which depicts a marketing firm that advertises cigarettes to people even know they know the potential consequences. Similar parallels can be made with the marketing of unhealthy sugary soft drinks and food. In 2012, Pepsico spent over $1,000,000 in advertising and marketing.

6. They Created Popups and Ad Injections

Online marketing is a booming business as over 60% of marketers now solely concentrate on digital marketing. Those annoying popup ads that show up on virtually every site, or the clickbait articles that get our seniors to go to questionable websites were all created by marketers.

5. They Regularly Trick Us

Whether it was a paid review by a distinguished critic, or a viral campaign ad that causes controversy, marketers regularly trick us into buying their products, even when reviews for the product are poor. As we look into the digital space, we can see a similar trend with ads that resemble working functions on a website. It doesn’t matter how they get the impression, only that an impression was made.

4. They Purposely Divide Us

Going back to market segmentation and dividing us into demographics, marketers will often pit people against each other. In the early 80’s with Pepsi’s marketing strategy “The Pepsi Generation” which divided young and old consumers. Similarly, Apple did the same thing in the early 2000’s with their advertisements about how Mac users were inherently cooler and more trendy than PC users. In a society that focuses on status, economic and social division can also drive sales.

3. They Make Money by Making us Spend Money

A marketing manager in the U.S.could make up to $145,000 a year. When they affect buying habits or market a product well, those sales and the successful marketing campaign translate to more dollars down the line, regardless of how they got there.

2. Marketers Don’t Have to Abide by U.S. Law in Foreign Countries

Cigarette companies haven’t always been the most pure companies out there, but you’d probably be surprised to find out that they regularly market cigarettes to children in other countries. Remember that whole, Joe Camel ban here in the states? Yeah well, now they market them to children in countries where it is unregulated like in Indonesia by creating things like cartoons to market them.

1. They have Marketed Death

I know it sounds like I keep harping on the cigarette companies, but there are also other companies out there who have marketed products which caused death to the consumer. In 2009, a federal court ruled that Hydroxycut, a dietary supplement, be taken off the shelves after it caused 23 reports of liver damage and one confirmed death. The fact that someone marketed a product which is known to be unhealthy is one thing, but one that could potentially cause death is pretty ridiculous.

Now that we have access to a range of different information, consumers should be more educated on their purchases. Instead of deciding on buying a product due to how the marketers advertise it, choose a product on merit, customer reviews, and how much you actually need it in your life.