The marketing process is not an easy one, nor is it straightforward. Getting inspired by other professionals can be a huge help, especially if you are at a crossroads. To help you out, we’ve gathered some quotes about marketing, social media and advertising from public figures and legends of the industry.
“Our social tools are not an improvement to modern society, they are a challenge to it.”
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“Over the past 60 years, marketing has moved from being product-centric (Marketing 1.0) to being consumer-centric (Marketing 2.0). Today we see marketing as transforming once again in response to the new dynamics in the environment. We see companies expanding their focus from products to consumers to humankind issues. Marketing 3.0 is the stage when companies shift from consumer-centricity to human-centricity and where profitability is balanced with corporate responsibility.”
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“Tampon commercial, detergent commercial, maxi pad commercial, windex commercial – you’d think all women do is clean and bleed.”
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“Advertising is legitimised lying.”
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“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe”
― Simon Sinek
“It is important to bear in mind that political campaigns are designed by the same people who sell toothpaste and cars.”
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“The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.”
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“Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing but nobody else does.”
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“The entire principle of a blind taste test was ridiculous. They shouldn’t have cared so much that they were losing blind taste tests with old Coke, and we shouldn’t at all be surprised that Pepsi’s dominance in blind taste tests never translated to much in the real world. Why not? Because in the real world, no one ever drinks Coca-Cola blind.”
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“90 percent of all Gillette shavers are bought by women for the men in their lives”
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“A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.
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Social media allows us to behave in ways that we are hardwired for in the first place – as humans. We can get frank recommendations from other humans instead of from faceless companies.”
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“It did what all ads are supposed to do: create an anxiety relievable by purchase.”
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“The principles underlying propaganda are extremely simple. Find some common desire, some widespread unconscious fear or anxiety; think out some way to relate this wish or fear to the product you have to sell; then build a bridge of verbal or pictorial symbols over which your customer can pass from fact to compensatory dream, and from the dream to the illusion that your product, when purchased, will make the dream come true. They are selling hope.
We no longer buy oranges, we buy vitality. We do not just buy an auto, we buy prestige. And so with all the rest. In toothpaste, for example, we buy not a mere cleanser and antiseptic, but release from the fear of being sexually repulsive. In vodka and whisky we are not buying a protoplasmic poison which in small doses, may depress the nervous system in a psychologically valuable way; we are buying friendliness and good fellowship, the warmth of Dingley Dell and the brilliance of the Mermaid Tavern. With our laxatives we buy the health of a Greek god. With the monthly best seller we acquire culture, the envy of our less literate neighbors and the respect of the sophisticated. In every case the motivation analyst has found some deep-seated wish or fear, whose energy can be used to move the customer to part with cash and so, indirectly, to turn the wheels of industry.”
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“I don’t know the rules of grammar. If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language.”
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“The consumer isn’t a moron. She is your wife.”
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“Advertising – A judicious mixture of flattery and threats.”
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“Advertising is the modern substitute for argument; its function is to make the worse appear the better.”
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“On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.”
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“It took thirty-eight years before 50 million people gained access to radios. It took television thirteen years to earn an audience that size. It took Instagram a year and a half.”
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“Your number-one job is to tell your story to the consumer wherever they are, and preferably at the moment they are deciding to make a purchase.”
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“Nowadays, ads don’t just sell a product. They sell an attitude! Look at this one! Here’s a cool guy saying nobody tells him what to do. He does whatever he wants and he buys this product as a reflection of that independence. So basically, this maverick is urging everyone to express his individuality through conformity in brand-name selection?”
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“Put out quality content every day and engage around it. It”
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“Building and sustaining community is a never-ending part of doing business.”
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“The last thing the consumer index wants men and women to do is to figure out how to love one another: The $1.5 trillion retail-sales industry depends on sexual estrangement between men and women, and is fueled by sexual dissatisfaction. Ads do not sell sex–that would be counterproductive, if it meant that heterosexual women and men turned to one another and were gratified. What they sell is sexual discontent.”
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“What you say in advertising is more important than how you say it.”
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“I have a friend request from some stranger on facebook and i delete it without looking at the profile because that doesn’t seem natural. ’cause friendship should not be as easy as that. it’s like people believe all you need to do is like the same bands in order to be soulmates. or books. omg… U like the outsiders 2… it’s like we’re the same person! no we’re not. it’s like we have the same english teacher. there’s a difference.”
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“It’s extremely hard to create a trending hashtag and bring people to you. It’s far better to listen, find out what’s trending, and bring yourself to the people.”
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“The biggest mistake I see influencers make is, they’ll work with every brand on the planet. It’s all about how many brands can they work with, not about the audience, not about the readership. I see no longevity there. I’m more focused on building my own brand than other people’s brands.”
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“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe”
― Simon Sinek
“Henry Ford summed it up best. “If I had asked people what they wanted,” he said, “they would have said a faster horse.”
― Simon Sinek
“Put bluntly, the struggle that so many companies have to differentiate or communicate their true value to the outside world is not a business problem, it’s a biology problem. And just like a person struggling to put her emotions into words, we rely on metaphors, imagery and analogies in an attempt to communicate how we feel. Absent the proper language to share our deep emotions, our purpose, cause or belief, we tell stories. We use symbols. We create tangible things for those who believe what we believe to point to and say, “That’s why I’m inspired.” If done properly, that’s what marketing, branding and products and services become; a way for organizations to communicate to the outside world. Communicate clearly and you shall be understood.”
― Simon Sinek
“If they had started their sales pitch with WHY the product existed in the first place, the product itself would have become the proof of the higher cause—proof of WHY.”
― Simon Sinek
“Creativity about life, in all aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.”
― Leo Burnett
“In marketing, I’ve seen only one strategy that can’t miss: to market to your best customers first.”
— John Romero
“Whether B2B or B2C, I believe passionately that good marketing essentials are the same. We all are emotional beings looking for relevance, context and connection.”
— Beth Comstock
“If you’re a good marketing person, you have to be a little crazy.”
— Jim Metcalf
“Don’t be afraid to get creative and experiment with your marketing.”
— Mike Volpe
“If your stories are all about your products and services, that’s not storytelling. It’s a brochure. Give yourself permission to make the story bigger.”
— Jay Baer
“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories, you tell.”
— Seth Godin
“Pushing a company agenda on social media is like throwing water balloons at a porcupine.” — Erik Qualman
“Successful companies in social media function more like entertainment companies, publishers, or party planners than as traditional advertisers.”
— Erik Qualman
“If you get bored with social media, it’s because you are trying to get more value than you create.”
— Fast Company
“If your content isn’t driving conversation, you’re doing it wrong.”
— Dan Roth
“My goal is to spark something within the reader and allow it to initiate an idea they then can grow.”
— Warren Whitlock
“Branding demands commitment: commitment to continual reinvention, striking chords with people to stir their emotions, and commitment to imagination. It is easy to be cynical about such things, much harder to be successful.”
— Sir Richard Branson
“New ideas are sometimes found in the most granular details of a problem where few others bother to look.”
— Nate Silver
“Banners have 99 problems and a click ain’t one.”
— Scott Sorokin
“Content is the reason search began in the first place.”
— Lee Odden
“Traditional marketing talks at people. Content marketing talks with them.”
— Doug Kessler
