The Truth About Marketing: Why All Forms Of Business Marketing Are A Scam

Some time back, my younger son and I were having lunch at a local Thai restaurant.

When dining at a restaurant, I typically arrive around 11am when the restaurant is empty (and quiet).

I request to sit in the far corners of restaurants, away from the bar, and the chatter and reactive laughter.

The restaurant was empty, but a few tables away from us sat a man in a white shirt and a striped tie, sitting before a laptop and a set of manilla folders. Across the table from him were the two owners of the restaurant.

It did not require a great deal of imagination to conclude that this was a marketing presentation.

I engaged in a conversation with my son:

 

Myself (M)

Son (S)

 

M: Do you see the meeting that is happening at the table?

S: Yes.

M: What you are witnessing is a scam -in-progress.

S: What’s happening?

M: The man in the white shirt is presenting a marketing strategy to the owners of the restaurant. Did you hear him say “Facebook” and “digital advertising” and “promotions and coupons” and “spice-up the menu?”

S: Yes.

M: What he is telling them is the various ways to “market” their restaurant so that more customers will come to the restaurant.

S: What’s wrong with that?

M: There is nothing at all wrong with it. If such a thing actually worked.

S: You’re saying it won’t work?

M: I cannot be overly precise in predicting the results. But what I can certainly tell you is that there is at least an 80% chance that the money they pay him will be equal to or more than the money they receive from his advice. If there happens to be an increase in customer traffic, it will soon return to its default level. The bottom line is that if they follow his advice, their restaurant will not be significantly more successful than it is now. No matter how much money they pay him. And no matter how many advertisements and digital strategies he uses.

S: Then why is the man doing this?

M: I don’t know if he believes in what he is doing or not. But whether he does or he doesn’t, the plan will not work. And when we state it plainly, the man is basically looking to get a contract for more business.

S: Then why are the restaurant owners hiring him?

M: If a person wants to learn how to swing a golf club, where does he go?

S: To a swing instructor.

M: If a person wants to learn how to sing, where do you think he goes?

S: To a singing coach.

M: Yes, that’s right. If a person wants to build more muscle, where does he go?

S: To a physical trainer.

M: Yes. And if a restaurant owner wants to get more customers, where does he go?

S: To a marketing person?

M: Correct. So this is why they are hiring him.

S: But you said it’s a scam.

M: That’s correct.

S: Why would the restaurant owners hire someone who is scamming them?

M: The marketing person might know that what he is doing is a scam. Or he might be sincere, and simply does not recognize that what he is doing is a scam. But one thing is for sure: The restaurant owner certainly doesn’t think it’s a scam. If he did, he would never go through with it.

S: But you are saying that it IS a scam.

M: Yes.

S: Why is it a scam?

M: Does swing instruction work?

S: No.

M: Why not?

S: It just doesn’t.

M: But why not?

S: I don’t know how to explain it.

M: Have we been to swing instructors before?

S: Yes.

M: What happened?

S: We start off with one thing. Then begin changing a bunch of things. And you never really have it. You have to keep going back to the swing instructor to see if you are doing it right or wrong.

M: And who was the one who said that he’s tired of chasing technique?

S: Me.

M: So swing instruction is a Scam. Not because the one who instructs is being dishonest. But because it doesn’t produce a lasting effect. And anything that doesn’t produce a lasting effect, keeps you on the hook forever. If something keeps you on the hook forever, you will never own it. If you never own it, it doesn’t work. And if it doesn’t work, it’s a Scam.

S: So marketing doesn’t work?

M: Almost all marketing is ineffective. What this person is telling the restaurant owners certainly will not work. Thus, it is a scam.

 

We pass by this restaurant every afternoon and every evening. The restaurant is as empty as ever, during peak times.

We have dined at the restaurant since that time. The daughter of the owner told me they hired the marketing person. Nothing has changed.

 

 

Almost all marketing is ineffective.

Why is this so?

Because the questions that are being asked are ineffective.

Why are the questions ineffective?

Because they are not based upon The Truth.

And if a question is not based upon The Truth, the answer one receives cannot be Truth.

In order to understand the Truth about marketing, one must first devote himself to understanding human nature.

One must devote himself to understanding the nature of the human mind.

You may wish to ask yourself if you know of any marketer who has done such a thing.

Have you ever heard of a marketer who, rather than going to school or getting a marketing degree or working at a marketing firm or anything similar, has devoted himself to learning about the human mind and human nature, before putting up a shingle or trying to convince a single human being on the planet to hire him?

 

 

The Truth is that human beings do not care about what marketers think they care about.

The Truth is that human beings do not act in ways that marketers think they should act.

Marketers are addicted to “features and benefits.” This may come as a surprise to many, but “features and benefits” are not at the top of a human being’s list of priorities.

Marketers are addicted to “price.” But “price” matters in ways that are entirely counter to the way that marketers think it matters.

Marketers are addicted to “volume.” But “volume” is about bottom lines. And chasing bottom lines condemns one to a life-long struggle of ups and downs, and often liquidation and bankruptcy.

Marketers view human beings in the same way that all businesses view human beings: Through the lens of Logic and Research.

Firstly, if human behavior is predictable, it is on account of things that have nothing to do with logic.

Second, almost all research is skewed and flawed. For researchers ask questions that are 1) far too narrow and self-serving, and 2) do not take into account the nuances and complexities of the human mind.

Understand this: Any business that hires a marketing firm is getting relieved of their money for little to nothing in return.

To put it in the modern vernacular: They are getting “swindled.”

 

I will conclude with a few Truths, minimally explained. For it is not about the “instruction,” but the Essence, of the message.

 

The one who sells the most is the one who cares not to sell it.

The one who will never starve is the one who captivates the hearts of humans.

Captivating human hearts is not a flower that can grow in the soil of “sales presentations” and “marketing strategies.”

For all sales presentations and marketing strategies are founded upon impurity and ulterior motive.

What seems to be lost on marketing an advertising agencies is that the human being has an inner sense to detect that which is not genuine. Thus preventing his heart from being captivated.

The most glorious things in life arise spontaneously and by surprise. They arise when the conditions are ripe.

The company that seeks to make an “extra buck” is well-suited to the marketer who knows nothing about marketing. Humans, it seems, have become conditioned to ignore their truly glorious capabilities.

The wise company will understand that it sits at the center of a flea market. If it truly seeks to do something grand, there is no “marketing firm” in existence that has sufficiently devoted its life to become worthy of their telephone call.

If the product that a company is selling requires a “convincing” of the customer, rather than creating an instant and dramatic emotional reaction within him, the company will struggle.

If the product creates within the CEO’s mind, a desire to lower the price, it by its very nature will captivate no one.

A company has found something truly magical (and easily profitable) if it creates the feeling that no price can possibly do justice to its worth.

A company has a once-in-a-generation product when there is almost a hesitation to release into the market, due to how valuable it is.

Such feelings do not arise easily.

For one may fool the mind, but he will never fool the Heart.

 

Namaste.