“There is no ‘joy’ in marketing!”
That’s what a seasoned marketing professional told me the other day. He was reacting to a blog post in which I described three tactics of fostering behavioral change; one of them is to motivate people by tapping into what gives them joy.
So I said, “There is no joy in marketing. Why not?”
“It’s not action oriented enough. We use words like: enthusiasm, energy, engagement, and excitement, but not joy.”
So I said, “OK, those are all good words. Why not joy?”
“These ‘e’ words all attach to action, and as marketers we want prospective customers to respond with behaviors leading to a purchase or sharing the brand value with others….Joy is just a state of experience.”
Yes, joy is a state of experience. Customer service people know joy; the joy of delighting a customer, the joy of resolving a customer’s service headache, and the joy of realizing that you are the brand-in-action and, by living the brand promise, you are creating a long-term relationship with the customer.
Maybe we could use a little more joy in marketing!
