You have learned advanced concepts and tools for marketing products and services

Question

You have learned advanced concepts and tools for marketing products and services. These are the same concepts and tools that marketing managers use around the world. However, it is worth considering how marketing is perceived in your country and what the ethical dimensions of these marketing strategies are. For example, in the Diageo case discussed in Unit 3, we saw that the company has reduced the prices for many of its liquor brands in Africa as well as selling them in smaller, less-expensive packages.

In two pages, please reflect on the role of marketing in your country and putting on the ‘marketing manager’ hat, give some specific examples of where you think marketing “crosses the line” into unethical behavior, and make some recommendations for what should change.

Explanation / Answer

Shock marketing campaigns by PETA wherein they show explicit nudity in US is something which is debated on as being unethical . Similarly Abercrombie uses this theme to attract customers. Other unethical practices include advertising products characteristics without sound research evidence and thus leading to false advertisements . Other examples include using people's emotions such as marketing in the wake of 9/11 disaster, spamming the customers inbox, stirring up insensitive controversy eg H&Ms coolest monkey in the jungle ad etc.

However It is very difficult to ascertain what is the limit and what could mean crossing the line. There is a different way how one person defines what is ethical and what is not and it is this benefit of doubt that marketing managers seem to take. Sometimes Greed tends to lower the balances to one side and some decisions are taken in a conscious manner at the expense of playing with people's sentiments.

I think there are more stricter requirements before the approval of any advertisement claiming certain benefits. Eg once cigaretter companies promoted cigarettes as healthy so had a medical committee were there that would not have happened. Similar story happened for nutella as they tried to portray it as healthy for children and is thus misleading

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