Marketing is no Joke. Beware of the "Haters"!
Publicado em 23/07/2026
TCAI
Family farming, ethical marketing.
Published on July 3, 2026
Agriconscient Blog
www.tejon.com.br
*José Luiz Tejon
Translated/Copydesk by Teacher Francisco Barbosa Bardhal
Marketing professionals and CMOs (Chief Marketing Officers) are increasingly drawn to digital and social media. This instant communication provides automatic feedback, excellent for scaling messages impact , creative footprints, and cross-generational assessments (I mean Generation Z, Alpha, and so on).
However, this can turns into high-risk if caution isn't exercised, as it may inadvertently fuel the "Haters." Some may think "Oh, but having a few haters is good because it generates views, likes, and engagement!"
Fair enough, as long as they,re just a few. Haters do exist, but what about your "Lovers" your Promoters? Are they actively engaged on social networks, or are they people who admire your work, your brand, or your name but remain passive?
Marketing strategies operate beyond AI and digital superficiality. It's essential you, whether a professional, entrepreneur, writer, or nonprofit leader, understand your role in the world, the virtues of your actions, and your organization's purpose.
However, don't supply raw material for detractors to exploit.
And if you're attacked, never make the mistake of "retaliating" against the detractor because that's exactly what they hope you will do.
In fact, attacks fall to your admirers, your promoters pushing them to defend you. But how do you create fans? How conquer "Lovers" on Social Media? In a way, the rule is simple: promote good, avoid arrogance and the haughtiness of the ignorant fool, and address your target audience without depreciating or detracting your competitors.
In agribusiness marketing, a serious mistake I often have seen is that, in defending Brazilian agriculture, we end up diminishing and provoking other nations agriculture. A typical example: when someone accuses us of "deforesting to produce," we counter by showing our figures 65% of our territory remains fully preserved and fire back stating, "while you destroyed everything over there."
In other words, marketing will increasingly require Spiritual Intelligence (SI), far beyond Artificial Intelligence.(AI).Winning hearts to reach minds is vital and sacred. Evoking emotion, creating a genuine "Emotion Meter" for every action in your communication. Gaining followers at speed is easy. Just use aggressive tactics, polarizing rhetoric, irony, malice, and fake news. But misinformation is always bad information.
Thus, every activity, whatever it may be, comes from marketing and will return to it. As I heard from Mrs. Jô Clemente, founder of APAE (Association of Parents and Friends of Exceptional Individuals), when I asked her: "What's your profession, Mrs. Jô?" she replied, "I'm a marketeer, because I had to promote and sell APAE to the entire world."
This means it isn't enough to create startups, businesses, or ideas. You must know how to use the full arsenal of Marketing tools, create and manage markets, reinvent markets with awareness of the obvious: Marketing doesn't exist to give customers what they want because market already knows what it wants. Rather, Marketing exists to give customers and the market what they don't yet know they want and need.
Remember, wheels were invented millennia ago, and so were suitcases. Even so, it wasn't until the 1970s that an American came up with the idea of attaching little wheels to suitcases. People called it foolish, the visionary was criticized and today, there isn't a travel suitcase without wheels. The same applies to everything!
So keep an eye on Haters and other on the indifferent. Conquer hearts, feel happy by generating happiness, because that is the truly Marketing mission, just as my good friend Dr. Professor Marcos Cobra, the Brazilian Kotler, so inspires us. "SI" Spiritual Intelligence That is the command for always, and from now on, forever.
*José Luiz Tejon is PhD in Education from Universidad de La Empresa/ Uruguay. Master’s degree in Education, Art and Cultural History from Mackenzie Presbyterian University. Journalist and advertising professional, with specialization programs completed at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, PACE University, and INSEAD.
Columnist for several Brazilian radio networks, television programs, newspapers, magazines, and social media platforms, as well as the author and co-author of 37 books. Academic Coordinator of the Master of Science in Food & Agribusiness Management program offered by Audencia Business School in partnership with FECAP. Managing Partner of Biomarketing and TCA International.Vice President of the Fundação Brasileira de Marketing (FBM) and Associação dos Dirigentes de Vendas e Marketing do Brasil (ADVB). Head Agro Professional at ANEFAC and received the Personalidade Agro ABAG 2023 award. Previously,served as Director of the Grupo Estadão, Agroceres, and Jacto S/A.
