I absolutely agree - the main barrier to the expansion of steem, utopian and even open source is the lack of clear transmission of information to the wider world. 'The public' has been HEAVILY conditioned to expect (unconsciously) that 'big and flashy = best' and rather than questioning this, many simply go along with it all and thus never really look beneath the surface of the options that are available and hence.. facebook.
I used to think I hate marketing because I thought it was basically taking something that no-one wants and convincing them that they do want it.. However, that is only true of those who have no integrity or real wisdom (which sadly accounts for a large percentage of the 'business' world). It is entirely possible to market ethically and, in fact, I am currently working with one of the most successful 'new school' marketing companies at the moment with a client - they take almost dead business ideas and sometimes turn them into huge successes in a short space of time (months). I have been thinking about how to involve them with Steem and I am sure Utopian could benefit too. Their fee is actually quite affordable for such a project I think - alternatively though, I actually know enough to do it myself now, but a team of 5+ people is really needed to get that snowflake turned into an avalanche! ;)