The guys over at American Copywriter have taken on a topic that has been on our blog to-do list for awhile. So we figured it time to go ahead and explore the topic of political correctness and it’s influence over marketing departments. More specifically what color is your marketing department? And is political correctness destroying enterprise competitiveness?

Politically correct behavior dominates the marketing ranks. Behavior that places the greater good above enterprise profitability, considers capitalism evil, competitiveness neanderthal, command and control bad, accountability unreasonable, and US flag-waving jingoistic. The essence of this behavior was captured recently in a cover story at Fast Company about George Stalk and his book HARDBALL: ARE YOU PLAYING TO PLAY OR PLAYING TO WIN?  which created controversy among the marketing intelligentsia because the authors had the audacity to suggest that enterprises should compete and compete hard. Fast Company frames the political correctness debate with the following which describes how the authors, fearing a political storm over the book altered some chapter titles:

"Some people have interpreted Hardball as a business version of America’s "go it alone" political strategy in the world, or as a total rejection of the idea that a company’s culture and people are an important part of its edge. Although neither is true, BCG, fearing a political storm, altered some of Hardball’s chapter titles to make them sound less aggressive. But the changes didn’t do much to soothe those who think business should be a kinder, gentler pursuit and that Stalk’s testosterone-fueled emphasis on crushing your competitor is a Stone Age throwback. "[Stalk and Lachenauer] are on a brutal, macho trip," wrote one reviewer for the Financial Times.

At the same time a second book came out that was embraced by the marketing intelligentsia written by two academics from INSEAD the FRENCH graduate business school titled: BLUE OCEAN: HOW TO CREATE UNCONTESTED MARKET SPACE AND MAKE THE COMPETITION IRRELEVANT which advocates the operationally naive notion that competition can be made irrelevant in the 21st century. This from the book jacket:

"Since the dawn of the industrial age, companies have engaged in head-to-head competition in search of sustained, profitable growth. They have fought for competitive advantage, battled over market share, and struggled for differentiation. Yet, these hallmarks of competitive strategy are not the way to create profitable growth in the future. In a book that challenges everything you thought you knew about the requirements for strategic success, W. Chan Kim and Renee Aubergine argue that cutthroat competition results in nothing but a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool."

Interestingly, the cover of Blue Ocean is blue, Hardball red.

So we have a face-off. Hardball was pretty-well savaged by many in the main stream press. Tom Peters, just off of his women are better managers than men rant was downright boorish and rude. The current ranking of Hardball over at Amazon is 17,598. Blue Ocean on the other hand was accepted immediately  with almost universal praise and is currently ranked 122 on Amazon. Now some might suggest that the reason for this is the fact that Blue Ocean is simply a better book. But it’s not. And it is no secret that many CEO’s are ready to jettison their marketing departments. So the question is what color is your marketing department? And is political correctness impacting the competitiveness of your enterprise?

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SHARKS START ATTACKING YOUR BLUE OCEAN? Subscribe to vSente’s Armory – Tools and Techniques to Fend Off The Sharks. Click for a free preview.