Heritage of Marketing

February 23, 2009 • 2 comments

Seth Godin asserts that Josiah Wedgwood invented marketing. I was reminded of this today when I read Godin’s blog “Is marketing evil?”. He says ”Ever since Josiah Wedgwood invented marketing a few centuries ago, it has been used to increase productivity and wealth.”

Because my family tree apparently includes Josiah Wedgwood (through my maternal grandfather) I find it interesting that today I own a marketing & publicity company. Gives me a little to live up to, huh? However, Wedgwood and I have much more in common than a genealogy, entrepreneurial spirit and business path. We share a commitment to socially responsible marketing.

Over the years I’ve heard stories of Wedgwood using his influence to impact the abolition of slavery. Perhaps I inherited a genetic predisposition for marketing, but I also received a heritage of using that same marketing mind to fuel a passion for change, for justice, and for social transformation.

Many have used marketing for opposite goals - without regard for the human impact of a dangerous drug, a Ponzi scheme (the Pigeon King scheme cost farmers millions of dollars in our area recently), or to cover up immoral or unethical behavior.

Reading Godin’s blog today reminds me to use my ‘powers’ for good and not evil - the power of persuasion can be used either way, and to great effect, positive or negative. May my gifts and talents be used to impact our world for positive change for years and generations to come, though I may never know it. Although slavery remains an issue even today, much has changed. Want evidence? One word: Obama.

Thanks, Josiah, for providing me with a respectable heritage of innovative, world-changing marketing. Oh, and if I am to also credit you for my slightly frustrating tendency to perfectionism, I’m not sure whether to thank you or not, but I’ll take it as part of of a pretty good genetic package.

• blog archives
•  rss feed