Mythbuster: Missionary position

In their regular column, Les Binet and Sarah Carter of DDB expose the myth behind a commonly held tenet of marketing wisdom.

Mythbuster: Missionary position

Les Binet and Sarah Carter

DDB

Les Binet and Sarah Carter of DDB get a little bit angry about some of the nonsense they hear around them… like the idea that marketing ‘converts’ people

'Conversion’ is all around us these days. Whether running a brand campaign, sending targeted direct marketing, or managing a website, the aim seems always to be to ‘convert’ people – from believing x to believing y, from rejectors to prospects, or from customers into loyalists. You'd think we were missionaries, not marketers.

But this religious conversion language is dangerous when applied to marketing....

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