Marketing is a rather odd thing. Different companies tend to come at it in different ways. And people, in turn, react to it very differently. The funniest part of that is just how oblivious to the realities both parties can become. 

In the strictest sense, business should be able to help both parties. The exchange of goods and services should be reciprocal. It’s basically just a way to deal with the fact that all resources are scarce. And the equally fact that time itself is a resource. It’s simply not possible for anyone to do everything for themselves. 

As such, we all need to do something to earn money. In doing our job we give to the world and get that money in return. We take that money and give it to others doing the same thing. And different values are placed on all the resources we create or take as a part of that process. 

It’s a simple system when you get down to it. But marketing has vastly complicated that situation. The point of marketing is to essentially get the word out to people. But that meaning has changed over time. These days marketing has become synonymous with tricking people. And in doing so the idea of an equivalent exchange has become something closer to a memory than a reality. 

Instead, people tend to look at business more in the sense of something known as the prisoner’s dilemma. People might not be familiar with the term. But they’ll recognize the general idea behind it. The prisoner’s dilemma essentially describes a situation where everyone knows they should get along and help each other. 

It deals with limited resources and an understanding that one person will be able to get away by taking more than his share. The result is that everyone turns against each other because they’re sure someone else will certainly do it to them. It’s often held up as an example of how untrusting people often become when given an excuse. 

However, we can bemoan it all we want. The simple fact is that it just seems to be part of human nature. We fall into distrusting others easily. And modern marketing often gives us quite a few reasons to do so. But at the same time, an example of the more positive flip side can be found with a loyalty program agency. 

This operates in something similar to how reward programs work with frequent travelers. This trend has turned a whole generation of young people into different purchasing options. There’s every reason to believe the same general strategy should work within almost any other industry as well. 

Basically, people just need to know how a company benefits from their loyalty. A loyalty program tells customers that the discounts simply come from having a devoted customer base. And in turn, that’s what makes a customer base devoted to the company. It’s a way out of the prisoner’s dilemma. And it simply comes down to customers and companies demonstrating loyalty.