The Marketing Book Podcast

The Road To Hell: How Purposeful Business Leads To Bad Marketing And A Worse World And How Human Creativity Is The Way Out by Nick Asbury ABOUT THE BOOK: The road to hell is paved with good intentions, says the proverb. Never has that been truer than in the case of corporate purpose, the movement that took over the business and advertising world following the financial crisis of 2008. Guided by the mantra 'do well by doing good', businesses embraced a social purpose agenda that sought to align doing good for society with doing well in the marketplace. According to author Nick Asbury, the result has been a wave of humorless and hubristic advertising and a spiral of worse social outcomes, as businesses wade into issues beyond their remit while neglecting their real ethical responsibilities. Diving into examples including Bud Light, Patagonia, Cadbury, and Unilever, Nick Asbury builds a compelling case against purpose - covering what it is, where it came from, how it leads to worse marketing, and how it leads to