Marketing is Politics: or the politics of Marketing?
Updated: 4 days ago
I came from a background in political science. When I was young, one of my career options, among others, was to become a spin doctor. Not always, as a spin doctor, can you choose the political direction to back and the narrative to create. I would rather say that this is one of the main reasons I decided not to pursue a political career. The career of a politician I had excluded immediately, and I won’t go into more details. But let me just say that being a politician is setting yourself up for failure, since it’s all about compromise. And people, especially voters, don’t like to compromise.
Everything is a political decision (Yes, even your shampoo)
The people that know me, also know I’d rather clean a flooded toilet than work hand in hand with a far-right politician. And yes, I like to make my values and opinions obvious and available to everyone, not shying away from them. In the end, everything is a political decision. The vegan shampoo bottled in a recycled plastic container you bought last week? A political decision. Buying a second car, because hell no, we hate public transportation in this family? Also a political decision.
BUT we buy the electric car because ewwww the people, but we love the environment? A Green Party kind of decision. 😉
And the list goes on and on. Some people might want to think they are not political. Well, it’s an illusion. Welcome to the real world. So if everything is a political decision, and my purchase decision even more so, why are businesses shying away from politics? Values? Messages? That’s also part of Marketing: be bold. Be true to yourself. Be authentic. You don’t have to endorse a political party, but there’s nothing wrong with being transparent.
And if your bold self is a Christian-Democratic centrist, "make everyone happy, but still selfishly" kind of vibe, so be it! Don’t be ashamed of it. It’s human. And it’s beautiful. In the end, that’s what Europe is about. Democracy, multiplicity, choices, differences. And thank God for those differences! Because also thanks to those differences, we marketers have a job.
Yes, that’s right. We are here to help you and businesses tailor the offer to your needs and wants. Personalization. Customer-centric. Buzzwords of the future.
Wow, this was quite the digression. Ok, let’s go back to political choices, political science, and the beginning of my marketing career.
From a broke MSc to finding politics in Marketing
When I finished university, I soon realized my options were slightly limited. And very soon I was broke, an MSc in political science in my pocket, spoke 5 languages fluently, and was selling clothes at a store. And I said to myself: absolutely not. Nothing wrong with selling clothes. Actually, huge respect for everyone who works with the public. But that was not for me. I might have been new to Berlin, but I was not new to struggling and to hard work. After a lot of thinking and a fair share of despair, I saw a pretty obvious correlation: making your ideas and political views appealing for a group of people is kind of like selling something. Make it appealing, and let some positive emotion be connected to it, let it talk about your needs, your struggles, your wants… And boom: marketing is politics!
So there I was, a freshly graduated 26-year-old with a political science background. Not a single clue what to do with my life, but a newly found conviction that I had a possible career to pursue: in marketing.
I’m Greta, founder of Na-triarch Agency. Every piece you read here is written personally by me, blending my academic background in political science and economics with my personal life story and the best practices for data-driven paid media strategy.
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