Is there such a thing as respectful, respectable marketing?

I think so ...

Apparently, the latest release of TV series Futurama paints a grim picture of direct marketers as aliens interested only in fleecing gullible people out of their personal details (I wonder if the bad guys have English accents?)

The public's perception of your average marketer does seem to lie some where between the estate agent and the politician. Even some of my oldest friends express wonder that I could enjoy such a, well, down and dirty profession. Especially if I say I'm in email marketing (ah! you're one of those people who know how to get past the spam filters) or search engine optimisation (ah! the black art of getting Google to place you at the top)

There are certainly times when I'm ashamed to be a marketer, but I stick to my belief that it doesn't have to be that way. If you can't respect your audience you can't expect their respect.