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   Getting
   Respect.
When beginning my career in the
advertising agency business, my first
Account Supervisor joked with me over a
list of the least respected professions in America he�d run across in a magazine.
   

Ed pointed out the profession I�d selected was the second least respected: Marketing Executive. I made it just ahead of car dealers.

�Damn�, I thought. We all want the respect of those around us. But I commanded only slightly more respect than those who received almost none.

That�s probably why I�ve been accused of �selling stuff to people who don�t need what I�m selling,� an accusation waged at me in social situations when I�ve responded to people who�ve asked, �What do you do for a living?�

Recently the Partners & Levit research department updated that 30-year old survey.

Results are now in. Thousands of people selected their three most respected and three least respected professions using a points system. The most respected were assigned five points, the second most respected three points�and the third most respected one point. At the other end of the scale, the least respected received minus five points, the second most respected minus three points and the third least respected minus one. Points were added together and the following table was compiled.

  1. Doctor
  2. Nurse
  3. Teacher
  4. Fireman
  5. Military Officer
  6. Scientist
  7. Police Officer
  8. University Lecturer/Professor
  9. Clergyman (incl. Minister/Priest/Rabbi)
  10. Librarian
  11. Airline Pilot
  12. Soldier
  13. Author
  14. Postman
  15. Chemist
  16. Architect
  17. Dentist
  18. Computer Programmer
  19. Child Care Worker
  20. Social Worker
  21. Carpenter
  22. Chef
  23. Optician
  24. Waiter/Waitress
  25. Photographer
  26. Film Cameraman
  27. Graphic Designer
  28. Landscape Designer
  29. IT Technician
  30. Tax Collector
  31. Retail Store Owner
  32. Bank Teller
  33. Retail Shop Manager
  34. Bartender
  35. Web Designer
  36. Corporate Manager
  37. Hair Stylist
  38. Interior Designer
  39. Radio Announcer
  40. Actor
  41. Taxi Driver
  42. Call Center Worker
  43. Local Government Official
  44. Traffic Cop
  45. Bank Manager
  46. TV Newscaster
  47. Accountant
  48. Company Director
  49. Car Dealer
  50. Marketing Executive

Since I don�t like the results (I�ve now fallen behind car dealers), I�ll do what any good client would do. I�ll assume there were flaws in the research methodology. There�s nothing wrong with my profession, just with the research.

Let me take the opportunity to defend my profession and, perhaps, get a little more respect. Here goes:

  • Without marketing professionals, who would develop the commercials that interrupt your favorite TV shows so you can enjoy a much needed bathroom break?
     
  • If not for marketing executives the selection at your supermarket would be limited and puny. There would be no Jello Pudding Pops, Lunchables or Fresh Scent Kitty Litter.
     
  • If it weren�t for marketing professionals you�d never receive a gift with purchase at the cosmetics counter nor would you ever be able to purchase a sandwich and soft drink at a gas station when you pull in to �fill �er up.�
     
  • Marketing professionals have introduced you to new friends you find in your living room�and bedroom�like Dave Oreck, Frank Perdue and Dave Lennox.
     
  • Without marketing experts Saturday morning would be void of entertaining infomercials tempting you with machines that can crunch your abs, tighten your thighs, turn your buns into steel, or improve any one of hundreds of your other body parts.
     
  • It�s the noble marketing professional who�s helped food manufacturers introduce the hundreds of chemically altered foods you crave for your low carb diet.
     
  • You now realize that a gift of diamonds is the only way for a man to show a woman his love. And that the bigger, clearer and more �perfect� the diamond, the greater his love. You wouldn�t have known that without the education you�ve received from marketing professionals.
     
  • Marketing professionals have provided you with a list of topics to discuss with your physician. �Ask your doctor if Viagra, Ambien, Lipitor, Claritin or Vioxx�are right for you�.
     
  • Gone are the days of the snake oil salesman. Here are the days of researching what customers want, how they want it and delivering it to them through advertising and efficient distribution channels.

Like medicine, marketing is part science, part art.

Heck, who am I kidding? My mother was probably right. I should have become a doctor.

Where do you rank on the new Scale of Respect? Let me know  even if it hurts. Call me at 212.696.1200.  I�ll respect you!

Mark S. Levit

Advertising agency