9 01 03

In
the past few months there has been a considerable amount of
discussion going on about telephone telemarketing. I believe I’m
correct in saying that most of us hate telephone solicitations
of any nature. While I tend to agree, I do believe we only have
ourselves to blame for what we now despise. How so? Well, just
look at how we have created this country. We did it through
marketing. When the folks bought Manhattan for something like
$24 in trinkets and beads, what do you think they used to
convince our Native American countryman that they (the Native
Americans) were getting the best deal?

Do you honestly think those early New Yorkers said something
like “I’m giving you 24 bucks of junk for this priceless piece
of real estate”? No sir. They used marketing to convince the
sellers that what they were getting was worth more or at least
equal to the entire island of Manhattan. Is this great marketing
or what?

The industrial revolution in this country was a direct result of
demand for goods and services. The fur traders became rich
because someone wanted a beaver hat or fur coat. What convinced
them to buy one in the first place? Marketing. Someone sold a
buyer on the idea that fur was desirable and thus everyone
wanted a part of it. You had to have it, because someone sold
you on the idea that you actually needed it, therefore you
bought it.

Looking back to the early 1900’s, did folks get from place to
place just fine on horses or in wagons? Sure, they did. Then
along came some fellow named Henry Ford who convinced our
grandparents that they needed to move faster in his Model T’s.
We’ve been buying them ever since.

I could sit here all day and give you example after example of
how our perceived needs have resulted in products being
developed, marketed and sold. Thirty years ago, we didn’t have a
choice in our long distance telephone carrier. Thirty years ago,
we didn’t have cell phones. Did we get along without these
things? Sure we did. Were we better off than we are today? Well,
that question has to be answered by each of us.

The country cries and laments the declining stock market. Well,
folks what is the stock market if it isn’t a reflection of
companies performing as a result of marketing? How can you
improve the earnings of some company without someone buying what
ever it is the company sells? We cry and bemoan the losses in
the market while railing against the marketing efforts which
help to sell and expand the profits of the very companies we are
complaining about. We can’t very well do both, can we?

I forget the latest statistics on television viewing in this
country. We don’t watch that much at our house anymore. When we
do watch, it seems as if we now get fifteen minutes of
programming and then fifteen minutes of commercials as well. I
wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t see something called the
‘commercial channel’ become popular in a few years. This would
be twenty four hour, non-stop commercials every day of the year.
No programs, just commercials. This may seem absurd, but some
infomercial channels are just about there anyway.

So, how does this help us? Not much I’m afraid. As long as we
are striving for a booming economy with zero unemployment and
skyrocketing stock markets, then I’m afraid we have to live with
the prospect of advertising, telemarketing, billboards and
commercials.

Your alternative is to move to some remote part of the country,
get rid of your phone, stop receiving any mail and let the world
go on without you. Stop answering those pollsters when they
call. Don’t send those surveys back in the mail. Quit buying
those magazines you never read anyway. You know the only reason
you stick those stamps on there for those entry coupons is to
improve your chances of winning anyway. You really didn’t want
52 issues of American Quilting.