meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Marketing Book Podcast

494 The Road To Hell by Nick Asbury

The Marketing Book Podcast

Douglas Burdett

Sales, B2bmarketing, Contentmarketing, Marketing, B2bsales, Socialmedia, Business, Entrepreneurship, Digitalmarketing

4.9868 Ratings

🗓️ 28 June 2024

⏱️ 84 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Road To Hell: How Purposeful Business Leads To Bad Marketing And A Worse World And How Human Creativity Is The Way Out by Nick Asbury

ABOUT THE BOOK:

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, says the proverb. Never has that been truer than in the case of corporate purpose, the movement that took over the business and advertising world following the financial crisis of 2008.

Guided by the mantra 'do well by doing good', businesses embraced a social purpose agenda that sought to align doing good for society with doing well in the marketplace.

According to author Nick Asbury, the result has been a wave of humorless and hubristic advertising and a spiral of worse social outcomes, as businesses wade into issues beyond their remit while neglecting their real ethical responsibilities.

Diving into examples including Bud Light, Patagonia, Cadbury, and Unilever, Nick Asbury builds a compelling case against purpose - covering what it is, where it came from, how it leads to worse marketing, and how it leads to worse social outcomes.

As a positive alternative, he makes the case for creativity, cognitive empathy, and valuing the human over the corporate.

Amid the fierce and topical debate about purpose and corporate politics, The Road to Hell is a sharp and entertaining intervention, shedding light on how we got here - and where we go next.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nick Asbury is a creative writer, corporate purpose critic, poet, songsmith, humorist, and one-half of Asbury & Asbury UK.

His other works include Perpetual Disappointments Diary (a demotivational journal of despair), A Smile in the Mind, Realtime Notes (3.5 years of fast poems described by critic John Self as 'the best chronicle of the 21st century), and appearances in books including The Copy Book: How Some Of The Best Advertising Writers In The World Write Their Advertising.

And, interesting fact - he writes tin pan alley music!

Click here for this episode's website page with the links mentioned during the interview...

https://www.salesartillery.com/marketing-book-podcast/road-hell-nick-asbury

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is Nick Asbury, author of The Road to Hell, how purposeful business leads to bad marketing and a worse world,

0:08.0

and how human creativity is the way out.

0:11.0

And you are listening to the Marketing Book Podcast.

0:14.8

Welcome to the Marketing Book Podcast

0:18.7

helping you keep up with the smartest thinking in the quickly changing field of modern marketing. And now here's

0:25.1

your host, Douglas Perdets. Hello, thanks for joining me on the marketing book

0:29.2

podcast where every Friday I publish an interview with the author of a new

0:32.2

marketing or sales book.

0:33.9

This show has been named one of the top marketing podcasts by Forbes and LinkedIn, amongst others,

0:38.3

and has millions of downloads and listeners in over 185 countries.

0:42.5

Don't worry about taking notes.

0:44.0

You can find links to everything linkable

0:45.7

in this episode's website page

0:47.2

at marketingbook podcast.com.

0:49.6

And since I get to read every book featured on the show,

0:52.2

if I can recommend a specific

0:54.2

marketing or sales book or any other resource I know of for whatever challenge

0:57.8

you're facing connect and message me on LinkedIn and I will do my best to get you pointed in the right direction.

1:04.0

All right, let's get on with the show.

1:06.0

Today we welcome Nick Asbury to talk about his book, The Road to Hell,

1:10.0

how purposeful business leads to bad marketing and a worse world and how human

1:14.0

creativity is the way out published by the choir press. Nick Asbury is a

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Douglas Burdett, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Douglas Burdett and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.