Marketing & Business Ethics

The Marketer’s Job Source:

Marketing, defined Marketing is “the activity for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that benefit the organization, its stakeholders and society at large” (Kerin 6). The American Marketing Association offers “marketing is an organizational function and set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.” (

Get To The Point! Marketers do, or lead teams to do, all this: – Create (product) – Communicate (value, benefits, features – “promotion”) – Deliver (“place” or distribute products to consumers) – Exchange (set prices) So that customers, the organization, and all stakeholders benefit. (Sometimes this is called the fifth P, for persons) – Benefits are often financial, but not always. There are other benefits.

Beyond Profits Is “doing good, good business”? – Doing good can keep you out of jail. – Doing good can increase profitability. (This is called profit responsibility.) – Doing good can help a company recruit and retain employees and investment money. (This is called stakeholder responsibility.) – Doing good can help improve a company’s brand reputation.

What’s New? Expectations – Today’s marketers see themselves as responsible for adding value to the lives of all stakeholders, and not just selling products or creating television commercials. This is a big shift from the way marketers thought about their jobs in the 1990’s and 1980’s.

What’s New? Leadership – Companies Target, 3M, and General Mills have an executive-level job called the “Chief Responsibility Officer”. These senior business managers are usually personally responsible for ensuring that their organizations are “accountable to society for their actions”. – This is called social or societal responsibility.

Green Marketing Green marketing is “marketing efforts to produce, promote, and reclaim environmentally sensitive products” (Kerin 88). Watch out - the public is concerned that companies are "greenwashing”. –

Cause Marketing A promotional strategy that links a company’s sales campaign directly to a nonprofit organization. Generally includes an offer by the sponsor to make a donation to the cause with the purchase of its product or service.

Got Milk® in 2010 Print ads break in Us Weekly and People magazines starting January 15 for the "Great Gallon to Give" campaign. Whymilk.com will offers related stories, advice, and opportunities to win. There are also Facebook and Twitter tie-ins, as well as hosted promotional parties held in cities across the country. The company here is the Milk Processor Education Program ( Source: Brandweek.com