The Flower Never Chases the Bee: Reimagining Marketing Symbiotically
Dave Betke
Symbiotic Marketing as a Movement
Why Traditional Tactics and Marketing Funnels Fail Change-Makers
Let me be honest. I’m a marketer, but for as long as I can remember, I’ve cringed at traditional marketing. We all know the tactics: the manipulation, the pressure, the way it engineers consumption and so often leaves people feeling empty or used. Just thinking about the “funnel” makes me want to run away screaming. It takes me right back to those late-night infomercials that haunted my childhood dreams.
But for me, marketing has always felt like it should be something much more meaningful. It’s about creating what I call Purpose-Ecosystems—places where people see real possibilities and feel empowered to become heroes in a story we share.
If you’re anything like me—working every day to inspire real, lasting change (maybe it’s encouraging sustainable habits, boosting workplace safety, or protecting our wild spaces)—you’ve probably noticed how outdated the old marketing playbook feels. Funnels, targets, transactional messages; none of it works when your goal is building movements or shifting culture. Those tactics were built to sell products, not to unite people or spark real change. And honestly? They leave people feeling defensive, wary, and used.
The Limits of Sustainable and Regenerative Marketing
Traditional marketing treats people like passive targets, just numbers on a page. It’s all about quick wins and short-term sales, never about real connection.
Sustainable marketing has made progress by promoting greener practices and ethical messages. Still, it often feels transactional, like being “green” is just an add-on instead of a true shift in how we relate to each other. Regenerative marketing goes further; it wants to restore communities and ecosystems. But even then, brands are still cast as “givers,” while audiences just sit back and receive.
That’s why I see sustainable and regenerative marketing as important but temporary steps. They nudge us toward respect and responsibility, but don’t fully get us to that place of ongoing collaboration and mutual growth. Symbiotic Marketing takes us the rest of the way by building living Purpose-Ecosystems where everyone participates and thrives together.
Seeing Your Audience as Heroes: The Heart of Symbiotic Marketing
Here’s where everything shifts. Most marketing treats people as numbers—leads, conversions, segments. It’s all about what we want from them.
But think about the people you want to reach: parents in your community, workers facing tough choices, students wrestling with uncertainty, local business owners trying to do some good. These aren’t just “targets.” They are potential partners. They are heroes in a shared journey.
When you see your audience this way, it changes everything. Instead of asking what you can get from them, you start asking what you can build together. You stop blasting out messages and start inviting people into a story, a journey you co-create.
These are the people who will carry your vision forward, nurture it, and help it grow into something way bigger than any single person or campaign could ever do alone.
Building Purpose-Ecosystems That Last
My biggest goal in every project is to build what I call Purpose-Ecosystems: living communities grounded in shared values and passion.
When you engage and empower heroes—when you truly trust them, provide resources, and grant autonomy—you unlock a force that will take your mission to places you never imagined.
These ecosystems don’t just survive; they thrive. They keep growing and creating impact long after you’ve stepped back.
Picture a meadow where ideas spread like wildflowers. Each person’s contribution makes the soil richer for something beautiful and lasting to bloom.
Why Marketing Funnels Fail and Symbiotic Marketing Works
Traditional marketing is all about transactions: grab attention, push for compliance, count clicks or signups.
But real change takes time. It’s about building trust and nurturing partnerships that last.
Symbiotic Marketing is different. It honours connection, collaboration, and respect. It moves with natural cycles: growth, rest, renewal—not just chasing short-term wins that vanish overnight.
It taps into our deepest needs: belonging, contribution, making a real difference.
Changing Words Changes Everything
Words matter so much more than we sometimes realize. They don’t just describe things; they shape the way we think and act.
I had a big epiphany about this in my agency days. Changing my language around marketing changed everything for me. But I also realized that simply slapping new labels on old marketing wasn’t enough. If we don’t change how we relate to people, it’s just a greenwashed mask over the same old problems.
So I made a conscious shift:
Goals became Harvests—nurturing growth patiently.
Targets became Partners—inviting collaboration.
Campaigns became Growing Seasons—honouring natural timing.
Markets became Ecosystems—building deeper relationships.
Awareness became Sunlight—shifting from attention to participation.
This was more than wordplay; it was a true rebirth of mindset. Moving from control to collaboration; from exploitation to empowerment.
Marketing as a Dance: A Symbiotic Metaphor
Let me tell you what Symbiotic Marketing feels like to me: imagine the dance between the flower and the bee.
The flower never chases the bee. It offers nectar freely, knowing that when the bee visits, life spreads.
The bee chooses the flower because it finds nourishment there. And as bees move from blossom to blossom, they spread pollen—helping new flowers grow, feeding the soil, supporting all kinds of life around them.
It’s a mutual dance that creates a thriving ecosystem where every part nourishes the other.
That’s exactly how Symbiotic Marketing should feel: alive, generous, mutually nourishing, not a relentless chase or one-sided pitch.
My Proudest Moment: Saving a Forest
This whole approach really hit home when I thought back on my early work, even before I had language for it.
Back in the 1990s, I was travelling Canada’s back roads, rallying unlikely allies (students and health food store owners) to protect an endangered forest in British Columbia near my home.
Every conversation planted a seed. Every shared meal built trust. Every small act multiplied into something bigger.
I recruited 180 stores across Canada, collecting letters to send to the government. We proposed building a community mill for selective logging around the park, aiming for markets that would pay more for sustainable products.
Today, that 65,000-acre forest is protected as a park, and there are jobs in the local mill thirty years later.
This was more than activism or marketing; it was movement-building rooted in heart and connection. It was the first real-life example of Symbiotic Marketing before I even had a name for it.
Over time, this work won seven national marketing awards and put me on stage with industry giants. It was my David-and-Goliath moment—a reminder that there’s power in connection over conquest.
Real-World Proof: Symbiotic Marketing at Work
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 recruited 180 stores across Canada, collecting letters to send to the government. We proposed building a community mill for selective logging around the park, aiming for markets that would pay more for sustainable products.
Today, that 65,000-acre forest is protected as a park, and there are jobs in the local mill thirty years later.
Recruiting Senior Staff During a Labour Crisis
Focusing intensely on what mattered 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™ Global Platform for Changemakers
GreenMeets offers meaningful connections and mutual support through a platform that naturally attracts sustainability heroes worldwide. Members co-create opportunities and share knowledge across borders, sustaining a vibrant ecosystem where Purpose-Communities amplify partner-led impact rather than imposing messages top-down.
Your Role as a Change-Maker
Here’s what I’ve learned: Real transformation happens when you empower others—with trust, resources, freedom—and then step back.
Paint vivid pictures of possibility. Invite people as heroes on a shared journey. Empower them with tools and agency. Celebrate every story because each person’s contribution adds strength to the whole.
This is so much more than marketing. It is movement-building rooted in trust, respect, and shared destiny, where every hero matters deeply.
Join Me as an Empowered Pollinator
If you’re ready to lead or inspire others using this approach, or even just curious how it would look in your world, here’s how we can connect:
Book a conversation with me so we can explore how Symbiotic Marketing could transform your work.
Invite me to speak with your team or at your event; I love lighting up rooms with collective energy and purpose.
Get coaching one-on-one or group to help you apply this approach with confidence and authenticity.
You have a unique role to play—a pollinator helping ideas bloom into something lasting and deeply human.
The time is now. Let’s create something that grows beyond any one person through Symbiotic Marketing.