Do You Buy the New Marketing?

The problem with marketing is . . . "lots of people tend not to believe it. . . . Instead, most people tend to place more credibility in the opinions of their friends. Horrible truths like this keep marketers awake at night" (Barry).

Marketing truism for the information age: "The truth is that everything that happens impacts everything else. Everything is interconnected, and as such, everything that is happening in your consumer's world matters to you" (Zyman).

Best analogy: "Permission Marketing is just like dating. It turns strangers into friends and friends into lifetime customers. Many of the rules of dating apply, and so do many of the benefits" (Godin).

Most profound marketing oxymoron: "It's hard to get credibility without some sort of angle" (Barry).

Dubious 20th-century marketing innovations: "Halitosis, B.O., 5 o'clock shadow, and ring around the collar. . . . Way back in the 1920s in the United States . . . bad breath, body odor, unshaven body parts, and aging shirt collars were not considered problems" (Washburn and Wallace).