Welcome, friends! This is my first Strategy Sessions blog post, and I’m delighted to kick things off with some brief reflections on the state of marketing and communications.
As I write this, we are in the spring of 2025 — and things are wild. The world is in a state of conflict. The news cycle is unending. Technology is advancing at a pace that would have been unimaginable even ten years ago. And the COVID-19 pandemic, now five years back in our rearview mirror, continues to have lingering effects on the ways we interact, work, learn, and process deeply ingrained societal trauma.
Essentially, we’re all just walking around in a haze of 24/7 cognitive overload. Our poor brains were never built to manage so much input.
Now, we add marketers into the equation, trying to get us all to buy the thing or join the program or sign up for the service. Even the mindless phone app games we play while numbing out are interrupted by incessant ads between levels. (I have to wait 30 seconds before closing out the screen? Really? 😒) I can understand why the word “icky” has been used to describe marketing as a profession.
But hear me out.
What if the junk that gets labeled “icky” marketing is really just bad marketing? Or maybe even a bad product? Maybe, just maybe, there is a way to foster awareness and connection that inspires rather than interrupts. Maybe it’s possible to send a message without sending up red flags.
I believe that high-quality, ethical marketing can be mutually beneficial for the buyer and the seller. Smart marketers and communicators are in the business of connecting products/services/organizations with the right people at the right time. It’s not about conning consumers into spending money on something they don’t need — it’s about giving them the resources to understand why your product or service may be their perfect choice. And if it’s not, marketing can help us understand where there’s misalignment and find sustainable solutions. There’s a lot of noise out there, and people are tired. Good marketing stands out without adding to the overwhelm.
We’re going to work through it together — with strategy, authenticity, and a hard pass on the “ick.”
Have an idea for a topic you’d like me to discuss here? Send a message, and let me know what you want to see!