Permit me a moment of personal reflection today.

Today my youngest daughter started her first ‘real’ job, as an ‘account executive’ at Saatchi & Saatchi. This after graduating with a commerce/marketing degree from Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand.

I spared no effort in the last couple of years to nudge her in the direction of the nonprofit sector. I thought that would be easy … here’s a girl who weeps and gets indignant at any suggestion or image of animal cruelty (except with respect to cockroaches). Plus, I had my own history to help illustrate the more robust and satisfying rewards of working in the nonprofit space.

Nevertheless — so far, at least — my urgings haven’t worked. But I won’t give up.

I have a distinct 5-Tier ‘Marketers Hierarchy’ in my head.

1. Clearly far and away at the pinnacle is marketing for causes and pro-social missions — the cure, the planet, equity, justice.

That’s what Agitator readers do. You should feel privileged to earn your bread (and trust) that way, be highly motivated at all times, and enjoy richer satisfaction than your brother-in-law selling razors or Coca-Cola.

2. Next would be marketing a product or service you believe to be pro-social in some way — solar technology, organic food, a cultural institution, educational television (e.g. The Discovery Channel before it lost its soul).

3. Next would be marketing a product or service (neutral or less on the ‘pro-social’ scale) that you personally feel genuinely passionate about. I think all marketers should be passionate about what they sell, or they should move on. In my ‘commercial’ life, I had a few clients who I really felt were offering consumers something superior to the competition — Makers Mark bourbon comes to mind (I faithfully still drink it). Maybe your example would be Apple or Ben & Jerry’s or Vespa.

I suppose marketers can find that kind of passion, and feel good about what they do, in many product and service categories. Even some you and I might find boring or soul-less.

4. Next would be marketing for the sake of marketing. Here, for the best marketers in this category, the chief motivation is the thrill of the chase — the pure enjoyment of beating the competition. And I’ll admit to being in that space more than once — urging folks to place their investments with this mutual fund family instead of that one, or this communications provider instead of that one. But it wears thin.

For the lazier in this category, it’s just an easy way to make a buck. Lots of companies (and agencies) need people to sell stuff.

5. And finally, far down at the bottom, would be marketers selling socially harmful products — coal plants, cigarettes, soda, weapons, sub-prime mortgages, fraudulent charities, Don Trump. I just don’t know how they do it, from a personal fulfilment standpoint. But that said, some of these marketers are the best paid of all … because they’re really good at selling shit.

If you’re reading this, you’re almost surely in Tier 1 or 2. But don’t feel smug about it, feel lucky. And work every day to earn the trust of your donors, clients, customers.

Meantime, I’ll be plotting to make sure Saatchi & Saatchi doesn’t corrupt my daughter!

Tom