I may be one of the few hackers that loves marketing as much as I do programming. I often split my reading time between both subjects. (And personal development.)
For me, marketing is exactly like hacking code. Except that it's hacking for humans! Even though humans tend to appear inconsistent, there are patterns (just like in code!) that you can leverage.
The bottom line is this: my marketing allows me to do more of the programming I love.
"We can debug relationships, but it's always good policy to consider the people themselves to be features. People get annoyed when you try to debug them."
--Larry Wall, second State of the Onion speech
"Identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably."
Chartered Institute of Marketing’s definition of Marketing
For me, marketing is exactly like hacking code. Except that it's hacking for humans! Even though humans tend to appear inconsistent, there are patterns (just like in code!) that you can leverage.
The bottom line is this: my marketing allows me to do more of the programming I love.