Market influencers

@wwaycorrigan

[For an audio/vlog version of this story, click here.]

I've made it clear here before that I'm not a big fan of marketing. Or, to be more exact, marketing agencies.

A few of Wrong Way's favourite things, in a Colombian context.

Having once worked in such an agency, I've seen all the blood, guts and tripe that go into producing the seductive sausage that's finally served to the public. Marketing agencies are slaughterhouses for decency and truth. And in my radio broadcasting days, I saw how the marketing department influenced on-air content, not just for commercial fluff but even hard news and current affairs. The impartial journalist, how do.

Inert influence

Now, granted, there are few, if any, industries that don't indulge in acts of embellishment. Or that aren't in some way economical with the truth.

Take the case of the real estate agent who puts a quaint retiree-ready rural house in the west of Ireland on the market, stating that it's close to a regular bus route to the nearest town. Technically correct. The only snag is that the bus route in question is solely for the school run. Pretty useless for an elderly individual or couple.

Tourism is another major culprit: Elevate the dubious positives to celestial levels; make no mention of, or at the very least downplay, the downsides.

Thus, in such a charlatan-controlled world, best practice is to be sceptical of pretty much all recommendations until you can be proved otherwise. After all, what one person finds acceptable is unacceptable to another.

That I am such a sceptic is one reason — of many — why I could never make it as a social media influencer. I do find it hard to lie. Honestly.

OK, maybe I'm being a bit bitter and disingenuous here. Not all successful influencers have built their empires on lies. Some are more genuine than others. And they've managed to find the keys to success. I most likely could learn much from them.

'I think I have a better understanding of what's nutritious than the jackrabbit and mule. I certainly wouldn't tuck into lead pipes. Not sober, anyway.'

I'm not too certain whom I could influence, all the same. My interests are not to everyone's tastes. Or, now that I'm actually thinking about it, my interests are quite basic, arguably too run-of-the-mill for those seeking amazing, top-rated experiences.

In terms of travelling, for example, when I rock up to a new place, I tend not to seek out its culinary delights, should it have some. Nor do I eagerly endeavour to discover all its recognised tourist attractions, especially if there is one must-see sight that is, as I see it, little more than a money-making racket. I prefer to spend my money on pursuits that I know I'll enjoy. In some cases, that means simply doing what I normally do, but just in a different environment.

In Colombia, this is sipping on an agreeably priced, unsweetened panadería tinto (black coffee), going for unaccompanied wanders, and, come nightfall, finding a sit-in tienda selling beers that are also agreeably priced. Simple pleasures.

Wrong Way recommendations

My standards are not exacting. Once something meets my fairly minimalist needs, I'm likely to give it at least a pass mark. I think I've always been thus, but this trait may have become more pronounced during my years in Colombia.

So, a recommendation from me about most things is best treated with caution. 'It's grand.' That's my default setting. And that's the Irish definition of grand, which means 'fine' or 'OK'.

One could go as far as to say that I'm similar to the jackrabbit and the mule, in the way that Mark Twain described their likeness for sagebrush in his book, Roughing it:

'[T]heir testimony to its nutritiousness is worth nothing, for they will eat pine knots, or anthracite coal, or brass filings, or lead pipe, or old bottles, or anything that comes handy, and then go off looking as grateful as if they had had oysters for dinner.'

In my defence, I think I have a better understanding of what's nutritious than the jackrabbit and mule. I certainly wouldn't tuck into lead pipes. Not sober, anyway. I do have some standards, after all. I would, for one, rate oysters higher than pine knots. I think so anyway; I can't remember ever having eaten either one.

So I do value what I consider to be beautiful or worthy of praise. Whether you agree with me or not on such matters, that's your business. If you've made it this far, it shows a vote of confidence, of sorts, for my musings, if nothing else. And you can rest assured that I believe in what I market here. The same cannot be said of many of those professional marketers and influencers.
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