The fundamental purpose of marketing is to generate revenue. It exists to sell products, drive leads, sign contracts, and move units. The measure is simple: good marketing produces more value than it costs, bad marketing costs more than it produces. Every tool, every tactic, every debate about creativity versus performance or brand versus direct response only makes sense in this context. Marketing is not a decorative function. It is a revenue function. That is the reason it exists, and the reason companies invest in it.
If there were only one option, there would be no need for marketing. The moment more than one product or service exists, people need information to understand differences and to make a choice. Marketing’s role is to clarify those differences and present reasons why one option might be more relevant or valuable than another.
Deception, lies, or manipulative spin are not marketing. They are scams. Real marketing works within the truth of what a product is and what it can deliver. The principle here is that marketing amplifies and communicates value. If there is no value or if it is misrepresented, the effort will collapse eventually.
People have different needs, desires, and pain points. A product or service exists to solve some of them. Marketing’s job is to understand those needs and demonstrate how the product fits them. If there is no fit, the answer isn’t to force or manipulate, but to acknowledge that this isn’t the right product for that person.
People look for information, entertainment, inspiration, and reassurance in different places at different times. The channels evolve, but the principle does not. Marketing must bring the product into those spaces of discovery in ways that are relevant. Whether it is a newspaper in 1925 or TikTok in 2025, the logic is the same.
Influence is not new. What we call “influencers” today were once actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, or experts. Marketing has always relied on trusted figures or social proof to shape perceptions and guide choices. The principle is to understand whose voice carries weight for a given audience and to align with that voice.
For a product to be chosen, it must improve the buyer’s condition in some way. That improvement may come as aspiration, helping them imagine a better version of themselves, or as relief, solving a problem or reducing a pain. Whatever form it takes, the principle is that marketing must clearly show how life will be better with the product than without it. Without that improvement, there is no reason to buy.
A message only works if it is both meaningful and delivered at the right moment. Relevance is about speaking to what matters in a person’s life, while timing is about reaching them when they are most open to hearing it. Interruption is fine if it is relevant. Interruption is annoying if it is irrelevant.
Even if a message works once, if it erodes trust, it destroys future opportunities. Marketing builds reputation and brand equity over time by consistently aligning truth, delivery, and promise. The principle is that credibility compounds.
Channels, tools, and technologies change. Print, radio, television, online ads, social media, AI chatbots, whatever comes next, they are all just distribution. The principles of choice, truth, need-solution matching, discovery, and influence remain unchanged.
The ultimate test of marketing is whether it helps people find products that improve their lives, however small or large the improvement may be. That is the north star. Anything else is noise or exploitation.
I might add more to these, rephrase them, or remove some as time goes. This is far from being a dogmatic list, the point is to separate the noise from the real unchanging facts. But for the moment I believe these are really the first principles of marketing. The fewer the better.
