National Honesty Day feels like a great opportunity to talk about strategy.

There is a perception that advertising can be icky. That, as marketers and advertisers, we try to convince people to buy things they don’t need. Unfortunately, perceptions come from somewhere and thus there is some icky truth to this. In some cases, it can certainly feel like some advertising is trying to sell things people don’t necessarily need. It is honesty day. Of any day, today I can honestly look at our industry.

In response, I advocate for my discipline. Strategic planning seeks to connect the right people to products and services that could fill an honest need. Strategic planners try hard to find how a product or service could be important to potential customers and then frame how to best connect with these customers. Sometimes this is more challenging than other times, but it is what we strive to accomplish. It is, honestly, our mission.

It’s not just strategic planners seeking to be honest in marketing and advertising. Many people do this. But, today, I wanted to be honest.