ABSTRACT
The chapters in this book document that marketing as a field has many serious problems: (1) the effectiveness of marketing tools has declined, (2) marketing today is viewed as intrusiveit is resented by many and increasingly regulated, (3) marketing ethics are being called into question, and (4) marketing has lost its seat at the table with top management. What is needed is a new paradigm for marketing. I cannot claim I have it, but my experience over the past ten years suggests to me that trust and customer advocacy are the keys to a new approach to marketing that will be: (1) effective in generating profit, (2) welcomed by consumers, (3) ethically right, and (4) able to get marketing back to its role as a driver of corporate strategy. In this chapter I describe the forces impelling advocacy, define assumptions for Theory A (A for advocacy), position advocacy versus customer relationship management (CRM), outline some tools for advocacy, and argue that moving to customer advocacy is an easy ethical decision in the long run-but a tough one in the short run.
