The Hermitage – No advertising!
When is marketing/advertising excessive? Every day is the correct answer.
Every external world contact activity is crammed with marketing propaganda to make people dissatisfied with their present condition. It’s gone far beyond creating simple product/services awareness.
How we look, how we smell, what we own, how we are educated, everything we are “missing” in life! It is never ending pressure to trade our financial resources (spendable present and future incomes) for what we must have NOW!
In a previous life (before retirement) I was a DMA (Dealer Marketing Advisor) My job was to help our corporate dealer (agents) market and sell our products. I am guilty of creating marketing pressures as anyone in the occupation.
In another (later) corporate life (occupation), I was sitting in a marketing (sales) presentation delivered by a young V.P. of sales. She made a reference how our business sales department intended to obtain a significant “Share of Wallet” from present and prospective customers.
I was totally taken aback from that crass assessment of the value of our customers. The goal of sales was to get significant “wallet share”? I found the concept very insulting and demeaning.
I figured that was a catchphrase slang from her (then) fresh from collage new-age-think marketing education degree. To this day, over 15 years later, I am still disturbed by that statement. Share of Wallet (SOW) is still a real and popular business marketing concept. Many references can be found in an internet search. Here is one: https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/share-of-wallet-sow/
Funny how I got hung-up by what was certainly for her, an aggressive but trendy, trivial, and casual statement. But it has forever changed my view of what corporate marketing goals are all about. The term stuck in my craw.
In private inner-circle strategy planning, it is harmless slang. My initial exposure WAS within a private internal corporate presentation. But my adverse reaction is based on my taking a customer view of the term. Is the customer’s WALLET our primary corporate target? That’s the message that slapped my face!
Certainly not an evil intent. Business must sell services and products. But I always think of customers as much more than a fat wallet that needs to be targeted.
My personal goal has always been, “What can I do and provide (of real value) for the customer?” Not, “How much of his spendable “wallet share” can I obtain?” Just a difference in semantics but not a posture I want to emulate.
It’s a term that I think SOW needs to remain private. Certainly not used in front of the customer. But SOW does exist. I feel it is a concept I should expose, as it is so evident to me in todays’ marketing. Marketing today seems more “pressure tactics” for getting into my wallet than helping me in discovering and making real world purchase options.
Marking has always intended to create the “impression of a need” then satisfy the need. Marketing advertising has just become severely intense, overpowering and never ending.
I no longer (ever) answer the phone, open spam mail, enjoy any electronic network system with >60/40 marketing/content ratio. I am suffering from marketing pressure overload and a fear of “Wallet” hijacking.
Where is that hermit cave when I need it? Someone must be marketing a real estate plan for obtaining them…