"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!

Listen to the Interview…

Links…

• 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 (Amazon)
• Nick Asbury (LinkedIn)
• Nick Asbury (website)
• Asbury & Asbury
• Nick Asbury (Substack)
• Perpetual Disappointments Diary
• A Smile in the Mind (2016 edition)
• Realtime Notes (3.5 years of fast poems described by critic John Self as ‘the best chronicle of the 21st century’),
• The Copy Book: How Some Of The Best Advertising Writers In The World Write Their Advertising
• Despair Inc. (Home of Demotivators? – The World’s Best Demotivation Posters)
• Content DNA: Using Consistency and Congruence to Be the Same Shape Everywhere by John Espirian (Marketing Book Podcast interview)
• How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know by Byron Sharp
• Myths of Marketing: Banish the Misconceptions and Become a Great Marketer by Grant Leboff (Marketing Book Podcast interview)
• Can’t Sell Won’t Sell: Advertising, Politics and Culture Wars. Why Adland Has Stopped Selling and Started Saving the World by Steve Harrison (Marketing Book Podcast interview)
• Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
• Grow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World’s Greatest Companies by Jim Stengel
• Brandolini’s Law
• A Smile in the Mind (Original 1998 edition)
• Higher Ground: How Business Can Do the Right Thing in a Turbulent World by Alison Taylor
• Sue Asbury (abstract artist and figurative paintings; Overton United F.C. fan)