What is Ethical Marketing?
Is Ethical Marketing Possible?
Yes - it takes commitment and a willingness to change.
Last month, I joined I joined the Ethical Move forum and took the Ethical Marketing Pledge. The Ethical Move is a community of consultants, writers, marketers and more - folks who are committed to learning new ways of doing business and unlearning old behaviors.
Why Join a Community?
Going against the grain of an industry that does not currently have a commitment to ethics, (outside of a patchwork of global laws) means that many of us have had to carve out our own guidelines and listen to our own moral compass.
Anything is easier when you have support and trust.
That’s why I joined with a community of like-minded people. Shedding old behaviors is messy and hard, learning new ways of operating, ones that go against the most common marketing practices, is scary.
Marketing has a long unethical history
Marketing as an industry has a long history of using less than truthful language, of massaging the truth in order to make sales.
After all, caveat emptor (buyer beware) used to be the common warning phrase when purchasing property, or any goods, really. Even when the seller had more information than the buyer, the buyer still had to be skeptical of truth, of quality, of safety.
Marketing has a long history of being seen as deceptive and, frankly, gross.
I want to ungross the industry, if I can. And if I can’t, I want to be a part of creating something new.
That’s why I joined this community, and that’s why I took the Ethical Move Pledge.
The Pledge
We put the person before the sale.
We communicate inclusively, truthfully, and clearly.
We take responsibility for our part in changing the marketplace
This doesn’t mean that I’ll have the hard answers, but it does mean that I am committed to making changes, to allowing space for questions, and to doing better at every turn.
And in turn, I welcome your questions. Feel free to post them in the comments.
