The Flower Never Chases the Bee: Reimagining Marketing Symbiotically
Dave Betke
The Marketing Chase and the Funnel Problem
Let’s journey back to the 1990s. This was a time before the internet even existed; spreading your message was harder then. We had to talk to people and promote our causes face-to-face. Letter-writing campaigns were on paper, and so were petition signatures. It was the only way.
I had just spent five years travelling across Canada, back and forth, raising an army of unlikely advocates among students and health food stores to pressure the British Columbia government to protect a 65,000-acre forest slated for clear-cutting. Without fully realizing it at the time, I was practicing what I now call Symbiotic Marketing. By the way, that forest is now a park protected forever!
Over the years, I have refined this approach into a philosophy rooted in connection, respect, and shared success that extends beyond individuals to their communities and the natural world. Along the way, this work has earned seven national marketing awards, and I have had the opportunity to share the stage with industry giants, so there must be something to it.
Marketing Should Be a Dance, Not a Battle
Traditional marketing often feels like a relentless chase. People are pushed through funnels that grab attention but lack invitation or respect. This approach is transactional and cold.
What’s missing is the connection that empowers people as heroes, co-creating shared outcomes rather than treating them as targets or mere participants.
Reducing people to numbers ignores their hopes and dreams, causing them to pull away from anything controlling or artificial. This builds walls instead of bridges, sparking fear and resistance rather than cooperation.
For causes, social programs, and corporate efforts, such as safety or recruitment, pressure and numbers alone are insufficient. Success requires genuine collaboration, respect, thoughtful planning, and above all, empowering people as heroes who actively shape meaningful change together.
Real progress comes from trust, inclusive voices, active participation in shaping results, and a shared vision that grows beyond any single leader.
From Chasing to Partnering: Marketing That Empowers Heroes
In my experience, the magic happens when purpose-driven marketing mirrors the relationship between a flower and its pollinator, such as a bee. The flower offers nectar openly; the bee responds with loyalty and care. Both thrive because they respect each other’s needs. But beyond that, their interaction nurtures entire ecosystems.
Here is the crucial insight: Symbiotic Marketing empowers partners as heroes who actively co-create shared outcomes and take ownership of the change we seek together.
When marketing invites people not as targets or participants but as empowered heroes in a shared journey of change, it blossoms into something vibrant and alive. In this ecosystem, your cause or program can survive and thrive independently over time.
The ultimate goal is to create a Purpose Ecosystem that functions sustainably on its own, where advocates become partners who lead the ongoing nurturing of the mission long after initial campaigns end.
Here is what nature teaches us
The flower never chases the bee. Instead, it offers sweet nectar because it knows that the bee’s visit will bring life. The bee chooses the flower because it finds nourishment and reward there. As that bee moves from one blossom to another, it spreads pollen that helps new flowers grow, feeds the soil, and supports countless creatures. It is a beautiful dance where every part contributes to the flourishing of the whole ecosystem.
This natural rhythm is exactly what marketing should feel like to me: alive, generous, and mutually nourishing.
The Natural Foundations of Symbiotic Marketing:
Inviting Heroes to Co-Create the Shared Story
Imagine your vision as a vibrant, full-of-promise flower. But a flower thrives only when its heroes—the pollinators—join the journey carrying its nectar far and wide to help it bloom and grow.
To invite these heroes to walk alongside you and co-create your shared story, you must build a thriving ecosystem that supports and empowers them:
Fertile Soil Your Community
This is the nurturing ground where heroes take root—a community bound by shared values, trust, and mutual care that offers strength and a sense of belonging.
Sunlight Visibility and Invitation
Your vision must be visible and inviting so heroes can see themselves within it and feel inspired to join the journey.
Water Ongoing Support
Continuous encouragement, resources, and connections that sustain heroes’ energy and commitment as they contribute and lead.
Nectar Guides Stories That Draw Heroes In
Compelling narratives and authentic communication that invite heroes to step forward, showing how their unique contributions shape the shared story.
Nectar Your Unique How
The distinct approach or passion that resonates deeply motivates heroes to engage actively as co-creators in the mission.
Pollinators: The Heroes Who Carry the Story Forward
These are your champions who share your vision within their own circles, sparking new growth and weaving their own threads into the evolving narrative.
Pollen Tools and Resources to Empower Action
The practical supports and storytelling tools you provide enable heroes to confidently spread the message and inspire others.
Honey: The Collective Impact of Collaboration
The meaningful outcomes and innovations that arise when heroes work together evidence that your shared story is flourishing and growing beyond its origin.
By inviting heroes into this living ecosystem, you create a dynamic journey where everyone contributes, grows, and shapes the story together, turning your vision into a shared reality that blooms far beyond what any one person could achieve alone.
Key Principles of Symbiotic Marketing
Empower Partners as Heroes Who Co-Create Shared Outcomes
Empower people to lead meaningful change together, sharing ownership of impact beyond marketing processes.
Build Purpose Ecosystems Rooted in Mutual Trust and Respect
Cultivate living networks where communities partner and nature thrives through collaboration and care rather than transactional interactions.
Shift Mindsets Through Language That Reflects Connection and Growth
Words matter deeply; adopting new vocabulary helps open minds to new ways of seeing marketing, not by masking old models but by inviting new perspectives rooted in respect and shared stewardship.
Embrace Natural Rhythms of Growth, Rest, Pruning, and Renewal
Sustainable impact respects cycles of activity and reflection rather than nonstop pushing or controlling.
Center Human Experience by Honouring Boundaries and Well-being
Design marketing that respects people’s time, energy, and whole lives, offering genuine value rather than pressure.
Co-Create Success Metrics Focused on Long-Term Flourishing
Measure relationships, community health, and collective impact, not just short-term transactions or outputs.
Use Marketing as a Platform That Amplifies Partner-Led Innovation and Impact
The brand steps back as partners step forward as protagonists within a shared narrative of change.
Words Shape How We Think, but Beware of Superficial Relabelling
Words have immense power. They shape how we think and understand the world. When we adopt new terms, we open ourselves to new ways of seeing, moving beyond outdated paradigms rooted in conquest, control, and transactional relationships.
Changing vocabulary can shift our mindset, guide fresh marketing approaches, and most importantly, transform how we relate to people, communities, and the natural world. This new lexicon enables us to view marketing not as a competitive battle but as a collaborative and symbiotic process. It paves the way for more ethical, inclusive, and sustainable practices that respect and nurture both human and environmental well-being.
However, changing words like “targets” to “partners” or “campaigns” to “growing seasons” without changing the underlying mindset, power dynamics, or systems risks superficial change. It can amount to simply putting a greener label on an exploitative system, a form of greenwashing that preserves old habits under new names.
True transformation requires that language change be accompanied by authentic shifts in how marketing empowers people as heroes, co-creating shared outcomes rather than renaming traditional roles or processes.
Lexicon for a New Mindset
When our language changes, so does our mindset. And when our mindset changes, so does our perspective, enabling us to view problems and solutions in a fresh, holistic light.
Here are some key terms from the Symbiotic Marketing Model and how shifting them can reshape thinking:
Goals become Harvests
Focus on patient nurturing rather than quick wins
Targets become Partners
Invite collaboration and mutual respect rather than competition.
Campaigns become Growing Seasons
Respect natural timing and developmental cycles instead of rushed pushes
Hooks become Nectar
Offer genuine value that naturally attracts people rather than baiting
Markets become Ecosystems
See interconnected relationships where diverse players thrive together
Growth becomes Blooming
Understand growth as cyclical with phases of expansion and rest
Audiences become Pollinators
Recognize active sharers who spread messages within their communities.
This lexicon opens doors to reimagining marketing as a living system rooted in respect, collaboration, and shared flourishing.
By thoughtfully adopting this language while simultaneously shifting marketing’s purpose and power dynamics, we create space for authentic connection and lasting impact where everyone involved becomes a co-creator and hero in the shared story of change.
Real-World Examples Empowering Partners as Heroes
Early Detection of Family Violence
Our campaign shared disturbing facts about family violence while engaging business leaders as funding heroes for women's shelters. This sparked confidential programs led by these leaders themselves to detect early-stage family violence among employees. Their leadership created safer workplaces where survivors could disclose experiences without stigma. The heroes were not just targets; they became creators of compassionate change, benefiting individuals, companies, and communities alike.
Reducing Single-Passenger Vehicle Use
We partnered with the local government on a campaign that empowered community members as heroes in a family game, highlighting alternative transportation options. People embraced their role as changemakers for cleaner air and healthier lives. The city achieved a 400% reduction beyond targets in single-passenger vehicle use during the pilot; residents gained empowerment alongside tangible environmental benefits.
Saving a Forest Through Community Mobilization
I launched a nationwide campaign, inviting students and health food stores to serve as heroes, carrying shirts and petitions to protect an endangered forest. Meanwhile, we co-created sustainable logging solutions locally with partners willing to pay premiums for responsible products. The forest is now protected forever; the community mill still provides jobs 30 years later—outcomes born from collective heroism.
Recruiting Senior Staff During a Labour Crisis
Focusing intensely on what matters most to senior engineers, uprooting families overseas, allowed us to craft messaging that treated candidates as heroic partners in their career journeys rather than mere hires. The result? We recruited triple the number of individuals while winning national awards for authentically respecting their hopes and concerns.
GreenMeets™ A Global Platform for Changemakers
GreenMeets™ offers meaningful connections and mutual support, providing nectar that naturally attracts sustainability heroes worldwide. Members co-create opportunities and share knowledge across borders, sustaining a vibrant ecosystem where marketing amplifies partner-led impact rather than imposing messages top-down.
Building Your Purpose Ecosystem:
Marketing That Enables Heroic Co-Creation
Your vision is a flower needing fertile soil (community), sunlight (visibility), water (support), nectar guides (stories), nectar (unique how), pollinators (heroes), pollen (tools), and honey (shared outcomes).
Marketing’s role empowers heroic pollinators to co-create shared outcomes:
• Tell stories where partners are central heroes
• Provide tools enabling autonomous action
• Connect heroes for collaboration
• Celebrate their real-world impact publicly
Begin Your Symbiotic Marketing Journey
Marketing should not be a cold chase for attention or quick wins. Like harmony between flowers & bees, it should be vibrant, generous, rooted in mutual respect & connection—and above all—it should empower people as heroic partners co-creating a thriving future with you.
Imagine inviting people not as targets but as heroes walking with you on a journey where every step creates lasting change together. Your shared Purpose Ecosystem blooms year after year without endless chasing because it rests on mutual trust, respect, and heroic agency.
This is more than marketing, it’s connection, courage, collaboration, honouring nature’s wisdom, and our shared humanity.
The road ahead is full of potential waiting for leaders like you to step up with heart and vision.
Nature is calling. Your community is ready. Are you?