In Deep Economy, the notion of “more and faster is better” loses out to “better and slower is better”. Quality wins over quantity. Though the book doesn’t directly address marketing, its conclusions have plenty of implications for marketing and its role.
McKibben presents a compelling argument against economic growth, materialism, hyper-individualism, and mass production and consumption. For example, industrial food production may yield more food per dollar, but it comes at a cost: bio diversity and health suffer, oil dependence wins. We’re richer but not happier: affluence is a negative predictor of happiness with great diminishing marginal returns. The focus on a singular objective – growth – leads us to discount the consequences of our actions. More is better until it very quickly isn’t.
The implicit connection between economic growth and marketing is straightforward: marketing encourages consumption, which propels growth. Not so good.
On occasion, McKibben walks the fine lines of anti-corporation, anti-capitalism, and anti-globalization rhetoric. Without being too judgemental or prescriptive, McKibben offers an alternative: local economy and community. For example, small farm food production yields more food per acre, in terms of tonnes, calories, and dollars. Local production and community mean:
- more of your money stays in the local community where it was created and spent
- you consume less (energy, stuff) and decrease your ecological footprint and negative externalities of your actions
- you calculate all – financial, social, and environmental -Â consequences of your decisions and focus on systems, interdependence, and context
- you focus less on “I” and more on “we”
- you take time to get to know your neighbor, you connect more and have more conversations with others
- you pay more attention to and enjoy what’s going on around you
In short, slow down, enjoy more.
Thankfully, in offering the local economy and community alternative, McKibben argues not for a sudden, massive change (revolution), but for slow, evolutionary modifications to the status quo, a recalibration, “a new trajectory, toward the smaller and more local”. It starts with a mindset: think local and community first, then proceed step by step with that purpose in mind.
Where does that leave marketing? First, marketing must return to its roots, which is to understand and work to satisfy people’s needs. Not new, invented needs, not more cheap plastic stuff needs, not more fast and now needs. Real. Human. Needs. Secondly, marketing must work to satisfy people’s needs without compromising the ability of future generations to satisfy theirs. Finally, “markets are conversations” meshes well with sustainability, local economy, and community; getting on the cluetrain means getting on the local community train.
Everything’s connected.
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Bill McKibben, Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, New York: Times Books, 2007.
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Aman Bloom said, “Some have been saying this forever…”