Heroes, villains, saviors, and antiheroes are all relatable and sympathetic in their own ways. In marketing, the consumer should be positioned as the hero, not the brand.
The road to making marketing accountable has been perilously slow. In the time of David Ogilvy marketers believed in measurement, their status was high. But many years ago, marketing turned inward and focused on ads. The CMO stopped being a business partner to the CEO. Marketing got dumbed down to being seen as frivolous, a cost center not an investment.
Whether we like it or not, cults are very effective in building a following of devotees. Beyond the manipulative and unethical aspects of cults, there is a lot marketers can learn from cult leaders.
There are three things marketers always forget. Okay, not all marketers and not always. But lots of marketers, lots of the time—enough to matter. Enough to sully the waters.
The fundamentals of marketing never change. All that changes is the context within which we apply the fundamentals.
