Marketing and the Saintly Philip Kotler

Whilst twiddling my thumbs in Tashkent, in transit last week I came across this delightful letter in the Financial Times that, I think, could be shared with everyone who regards him/herself as a marketer or even marketeer! Eat your heart out Adrian S.

“Sir, As an economist trained by Milton Friedman......................I am in full agreement with John Kay on economics’ lack of scientific status.........Any genuine “social science” has to observe human behaviour. But traditional economists have preferred to build a “house of cards” on the assumption of consumer and producer rationality and efficient markets.

Economists have assumed rational behaviour because it lends itself to mathematical treatment that always gives the appearance of science. Had they read a textbook on marketing or followed the articles in marketing journals, they would have seen a huge literature, both theoretical and practical, going all the way back to the early 1900s, on how consumers and producers actually make decisions among products brands, companies and jobs.

Most economists emphasise the role of price in determining choice, to the neglect of other major forces such as advertising, sales promotion and sales personnel that shape and motivate consumer and business behaviour. My argument has been that besides macro and micro economics, economists must add “market economics” (ie marketing) to the study of how the market place actually works. This advance is already being reflected in the rise of “behavioural economics”.

Wadja think????

Not Eyeless in Gaza more Flightless in Delhi

Well, after five days stuck in a Delhi hotel with an outside temperature of 43 degrees we were promised a Jet Airways flight home on 5th May! Needless to say like thousands of others we found that unacceptable and started looking for an alternative route. Thanks to Uzbekestan Airlines we managed a flight to Athens via, wait for it, Tashkent (isn't there an Alistair Maclean novel about Tashkent?). We thought, worst case, we'd get a train for there to Paris or Calais which takes another three days.

In Athens Tuesday night and lo and behold UK airspace is reopened. Two hours and much swearing later flights secured on Friday morning to London courtesy of Olympic Airways. They then became the real stars, wait listing us and getting us home early, weary and much, much poorer. Bo for the insurance companies saying the volcanic cloud is not an "climatic event" and is an "uninsurable risk." Hurrah for the carriers going the extra mile for their client in very difficult circumstances. Perhaps there needs to be a site set up listing good and diabolical practices?

More about fundraising, in India, in due course.

The secrets of research

Whilst at an RNIB event today I was asked about my role as a "Social Scientist" - since, of course, fundraising research falls into the academic displine of social science. I explained that whilst Cathy Pharoah takes a, largely, quantitive approach, I am strictly a qualitative sort of guy. As Dr. Frank Bryant in "Educating Rita" says, "You've got to get your ontological position right!"

In other words it all depends on what you base your beliefs - where you are coming from in terms of your outlook. So, with a new budget bashing the seriously wealthy (effectively a 70% marginal rate of tax over £100k of net income)will well healed boomers be minded to give more to charity rather than let Alistair Darling have it? And of course, it all depends on your ontological position!

So if you are already having a conversation with a boomer who has a shedload of money and s/he is minded to support your particularly wonderful cause, then yes you need to have a very serious conversation about gift aid and marginal tax rates. But to run a campaign to "give us your money rather than the treasury?" I think not. But then again I'm the dude who tipped Imperial Commander on the morning of Friday 19th March. I wouldn't however bet against Kauto Star as I've won a wad on him a couple of times. Result no bet at all and Imperial Commander wins the Cheltenham Gold Cup at 6 to 1! Wrong position again. Do as I say not as I do.

First Thursday Club

Attended a meeting of the London Group's regular master class session in "The Red Herring" thanks to the good offices of Kevin Kibble and James Buchanan. Great evening though I say it myself. Lots more on the behaviour of major givers. Some really interesting questions about the value of using a conceptual model and the role of volunteer leadership both of which the meeting overwhelmingly agreed are worthwhile.

Lots more research needed into the baby boomers, I'm doing my bit, but even the Institute of Fundraising seems to prefer case studies over research for the convention. Rather sad really. Particularly, since there's a new book out by David Willetts called "The Pinch" about the adverse impact the boomers are having upon the prospects of our children - generation X and Y. Worth the read because it might begin to impact what we do about, amongst other things, our charitable giving.

Be curious and have a look. If nothing else have a look at the video James has posted on youtube at - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP7hb6CFOCo

Fundraising Consultants - heros or villains?

Attended an excellent meeting of the consultants special interest group where Joe Saxton of NfP Synergy and Cathy Pharoah of the Centre for Philanthropic Giving, gave excellent presentations about the outlook for fundraising in the UK over the next year or two. Yours truely also did a turn on the impact for major gifts and major giving programmes. I do urge you to go onto the Institute of Fundraising website and look under the Consultants SIG section for the slides.

In a nutshell the jury's still out (of course)BUT there are a lot of implications for improving what we do, how we do it and to whom.

Naturally that self obsessed generation called the boomers are at the heart of a lot of the potential. Though remember as Linus (of Charlie Brown fame) says, "there's no heavier burden than great potential!"

Let me know what you think because I don't have a monopoly on good ideas, just a great supply.

More fundraising research

Delighted that on Tuesday the Institute met with some 50 or so interested members, practitioners,academics, suppliers and the like to discuss what needs to be done in terms of making more research applicable to and usable by fundraisers. Of course I have a vested interest I hear you say, you're an academic now. Well that's true but I always have an eye to the usefulness of anything I'm undertaking as 20 years of practice has shown me that you simply can't have too much.

Anyway, as an aside, for a lecture about corporate social responsibility to some third year marketing undergraduates I was forced to do some desk research of my own. Sue Adkins always claims that the American Express link up with the Statue of Liberty restoration in 1983 is one of the first cases of Cause Related Marketing. However I found a Marriott Hotel and "March of the Dimes" link in 1976. Then I was reliably informed that Sunlight Soap had an on pack promotion supporting the RNLI in the 1930s. Can anyone beat that?

Why feel guilty?

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about feelings of guilt. And that's not easy for someone who has been described variously as being relentlessly cheerful and a remorseless optimist.

Interviewed on in the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/video/2010/feb/01/chuggers-street-fundraising) about street canvassing I remarked that people need to sort out their own preferred giving and then stop feeling guilty about saying no to canvassers. In fact, I said, if they still felt guilty they'e better see my wife the pyschotherapist!

However I've just seen a Muscular Dystrophy poster using a child in a wheelchair with the caption " He'd like to walk away from this poster too". In my grumpy view this is guilt fundraising of the worst kind. Why make people feel bad when, with a bit more effort, you can inspire them to feel good about helping to change the world? It got me thinking that maybe I'm dismissing guilt too readily in pursuit of relationship fundraising.

I'm doing research into the motivations of those who give to charity and maybe I need to revise my methodology. After all if we accept that some people simply want to transact with the charity and not have a relationship that maybe we need to look much harder at some of those negative drivers? What do think? Do you feel guilty passing a blatently emotive, heart wrenching ad?