Writing Marketing: The Clause That Refreshes

Whatever their philosophical, methodological and epistemological differences, marketing academics have one thing in common. They are writers. They publish or perish. They produce books, articles, case studies and, on occasion, articles for top-notch journals like JMM. Writing, however, is rarely given much thought by the scholarly community. It is considered a chore, an obligation, a tiresome task between completing the research and seeing it published. This paper examines the often uneasy relationship between marketing and writing. Based upon a study of best academic practice, it shows that there's more to outstanding writing than many suppose. It's not simply a matter of short sentences, plain prose and setting out the facts succinctly. Writing marketing also involves an appreciation of the 3R's, all of which run counter to academic custom and scholarly practice.