Gerard Hastings – författare

Diving deep into the world of corporate marketing, this incisive and eye-opening work shows how, in the hands of the corporation, business has become manipulative, divisive and disastrously at odds with the needs of the natural world. It calls on us to rethink and rebel.

The corporate marketing blitz is driven by a simple economic truth: profits depend on demand always exceeding supply. A multi-billion-dollar global industry has therefore been created with the sole aim of turning us into devout consumers. Gerard Hastings invites us to explore alternatives to a system that is threatening our survival. He explores what it is to be human, how marketing can be used to do good rather than harm and the potential of alternative models that empower us to be citizens, not just consumers.

Professionals and students in the business, marketing, public health, environmental and political sectors – as well as concerned citizens who know that business as usual is not an option – will value this accessible guide to what is going wrong with our current business models and how these failings can be addressed.

Diving deep into the world of corporate marketing, this incisive and eye-opening work shows how, in the hands of the corporation, business has become manipulative, divisive and disastrously at odds with the needs of the natural world. It calls on us to rethink and rebel.

The corporate marketing blitz is driven by a simple economic truth: profits depend on demand always exceeding supply. A multi-billion-dollar global industry has therefore been created with the sole aim of turning us into devout consumers. Gerard Hastings invites us to explore alternatives to a system that is threatening our survival. He explores what it is to be human, how marketing can be used to do good rather than harm and the potential of alternative models that empower us to be citizens, not just consumers.

Professionals and students in the business, marketing, public health, environmental and political sectors – as well as concerned citizens who know that business as usual is not an option – will value this accessible guide to what is going wrong with our current business models and how these failings can be addressed.

Social Marketing shows how marketing techniques can be used to social ends and tackle the immense challenges humankind faces. Social inequalities have driven popular revolts, from Black Lives Matter to Brexit, the climate is in crisis, and COVID-19 has highlighted power imbalances across the globe. In these turbulent times, this fourth edition will arm you with:

This popular introductory textbook has been fully updated to enable you to challenge the bad, champion the good and enact meaningful change. If you already have marketing know-how, then it will help you apply this in a health, social and ecological context. If you come from a social science, public health or ecological background, and have little knowledge of marketing, it will introduce you to its key principles and give you the chance to apply these ideas in familiar settings.

Social Marketing shows how marketing techniques can be used to social ends and tackle the immense challenges humankind faces. Social inequalities have driven popular revolts, from Black Lives Matter to Brexit, the climate is in crisis, and COVID-19 has highlighted power imbalances across the globe. In these turbulent times, this fourth edition will arm you with:

This popular introductory textbook has been fully updated to enable you to challenge the bad, champion the good and enact meaningful change. If you already have marketing know-how, then it will help you apply this in a health, social and ecological context. If you come from a social science, public health or ecological background, and have little knowledge of marketing, it will introduce you to its key principles and give you the chance to apply these ideas in familiar settings.

In the hands of the corporate sector, marketing has turned us into spoilt, consumption-obsessed children who are simultaneously wrecking our bodies, psyches and planet. Given the fiduciary duties of the corporation, notions like consumer sovereignty, customer service and relationship building are just corrosive myths that seduce us into quiescence, whilst furnishing big business with unprecedented power. Corporate Social Responsibility, the ultimate oxymoron, and its country cousin, Cause Related Marketing, are just means of currying favour amongst our political leaders and further extending corporate power.

So it is time to fight back. As individuals we have enormous internal strength; collectively we have, and can again, change the world (indeed marketing itself is a function of humankind’s capacity to cooperate to overcome difficulties and way predates its co-option by corporations). From the purpose and resilience Steinbeck’s sharecroppers (‘we’re the people – we go on’), through Eisenhower’s ‘alert and knowledgeable citizenry’ to Arundhati Roy’s timely reminder about the wisdom of indigenous people ‘are not relics of the past, but the guides to our future’, there are lots of reasons for optimism. If these talents and strengths can be combined with serious moves to contain the corporate sector, it is possible to rethink our economic and social priorities. The book ends with a call to do just this.

This compelling and accessible book will be of interest across the social sciences and humanities – and indeed to anyone who has concerns about the current state of consumer society. It will also be particularly useful reading for those marketing students who''d prefer a critical perspective to the standard ritualization of their discipline.

In the hands of the corporate sector, marketing has turned us into spoilt, consumption-obsessed children who are simultaneously wrecking our bodies, psyches and planet. Given the fiduciary duties of the corporation, notions like consumer sovereignty, customer service and relationship building are just corrosive myths that seduce us into quiescence, whilst furnishing big business with unprecedented power. Corporate Social Responsibility, the ultimate oxymoron, and its country cousin, Cause Related Marketing, are just means of currying favour amongst our political leaders and further extending corporate power.

So it is time to fight back. As individuals we have enormous internal strength; collectively we have, and can again, change the world (indeed marketing itself is a function of humankind’s capacity to cooperate to overcome difficulties and way predates its co-option by corporations). From the purpose and resilience Steinbeck’s sharecroppers (‘we’re the people – we go on’), through Eisenhower’s ‘alert and knowledgeable citizenry’ to Arundhati Roy’s timely reminder about the wisdom of indigenous people ‘are not relics of the past, but the guides to our future’, there are lots of reasons for optimism. If these talents and strengths can be combined with serious moves to contain the corporate sector, it is possible to rethink our economic and social priorities. The book ends with a call to do just this.

This compelling and accessible book will be of interest across the social sciences and humanities – and indeed to anyone who has concerns about the current state of consumer society. It will also be particularly useful reading for those marketing students who''d prefer a critical perspective to the standard ritualization of their discipline.

- examining the defining elements of social marketing, their intellectual origins, evolution, current status and direction of travel;

-discussing how these have been used in practice, emphasising emerging areas and recent innovations; and

-setting the agenda for future research and development in the discipline.

For academics, this book will fill the gap in comprehensive social marketing literature, while being of interest to policymakers and post-graduate marketing and health studies students alike as it explores the idea that tools used to market fast-moving consumer goods and financial services can also be applied to pressing social problems.