“If we train our children only to harvest, who will plant the seed?”

I wrote those words after contemplating the short-sightedness of so-called, “performance marketing,” on March 11, 2010.

Performance marketing is the new name for direct response advertising. It works best when it extracts the value from a well-known brand. Its objective is to bring in a lot of money quickly.

That is why business owners are attracted to it.

But here’s the caveat: value cannot be extracted from a brand unless it has first been created. You cannot squeeze a good reputation dry unless you first build a good reputation.

Do you see the problem? When you have finally squeezed the last ounce of value from a good reputation, you don’t have a good reputation anymore.

As I was contemplating that last line I just wrote, the words “extraction of value” popped back into my mind. I typed those words into the Google search bar. The AI Overview that appeared at the top of the page whispered to me in a conspiratorial tone:

 “‘The extraction of value’ refers to the process of capturing or appropriating value from other stakeholders, often through exploiting a monopoly or manipulating competitive market processes, rather than creating new value.”

The eight words that leaped out of the paragraph were, “exploiting… or manipulating… rather than creating new value.”

Do you remember that famous scene in the movie, “There Will Be Blood,” when Daniel says to Eli, “If you have a milkshake, and I have a milkshake, and I have a straw… There it is. that’s the straw, you see? Watch it. Now my straw reaches acroooooooss the room and starts to drink your milkshake. I… drink…  your… milkshake! I drink it up!”

That is the voice of performance marketing.

The healthy alternative to performance marketing is sales activation within a relational ad campaign.

Sales activation is like shearing the wool from a sheep. You can do it again and again and the creature is never diminished by it.

Performance marketing is like slaughtering that poor sheep, piece by piece. It is painful, and there is nothing left when you are done.

I apologize for putting that horrible image into your mind, but we are talking about your business.

I’m sorry if I stepped over the line.

Roy H. Williams