Scripting News: When the time is right... (Scripting News)
Michael Markman
· 2 years ago
How perfectly rational. But are the targets of advertising perfectly rational? And more to the point, are the customers of advertising--the paying customers, the advertisers themselves--the "make my logo bigger" crowd-- ready to see the wisdom of this? I expect that impact of Edward Bernays--father of spin, inventor of PR, master propagandist for US global hegemony, and advocate for irrational appeals to desires and self-expression will be with us for a long, long time. Let's see how long it takes for, say, Coke and Apple to give up massive branding campaigns.
Pioneer1
· 2 years ago
I expect that impact of Edward Bernays--father of spin, inventor of PR, master propagandist for US global hegemony, and advocate for irrational appeals to desires and self-expression will be with us for a long, long time.
I wouldn't call Bernays "father of spin, inventor of PR, master propagandist. . . " These methods have been around since the dawn of history. See my comments here as well: http://www.alphysics.com/html/009-Notes.html#co... Dave Winer's aphorism seems correct, and I agree, but the real purpose of advertisement is to program human beings. In that sense, it will not disappear.
James
· 2 years ago
As a journalist, I keep coming back to the same question -
what about the information that people aren't really looking for? The type of information that does not spread virally, but is still important.
This goes back to that now-ancient question about the expert editor vs. the wisdom of crowds.
I agree with what you're saying, but there are some dangerous issues you're confronting here. And it's good that you are, because they are inevitable.
Ian Jones
· 2 years ago
All advertising is information. Its up to you to determine if its usefull or not.
Seth
· 2 years ago
As someone who works for multiple cable networks (where we're both selling advertising on our own air and trying to get folks to watch via advertising our shows) it's going to be hard to get our marketing folks to put down the megaphone and embrace this vision.
dave
· 2 years ago
They don't have to embrace the vision, at least not in one big gulp.
If they ever talk about better "targeting of messages" they're doing it whether they know it or not. My cable provider is always selling that in their own advertising, that they can reach very specific "consumers" -- it's only a matter of time before they're so specific that they actually say my name in the commercial. I hope to live to see that day. (Of course direct mail got there a long time ago.)
yaacov
· 2 years ago
I'm working out our advertising model for a local niche site. There definitely won't be any google ads with funny things showing up and all our advertisers should have something they are selling our users desperately want.
Isn't it like "keeping up with the Jones's?"
julien
· 2 years ago
very, very smart.
Bully Advertising
· 2 years ago
"Let's see how long it takes for, say, Coke and Apple to give up massive branding campaigns."
This comment confuses advertising with branding - a serious mistake. Even with the most targeted adverting imaginable, there will still be a case and need [both for consumer and "brand"] for brand to exist.
eli
· 2 years ago
Apple and Coke will always have massive advertising campaigns because they sell products everyone could potentially want, but even these products benefit from some target marketing (who's the evil genius who convinced schools to add soda machines). This idea is not just a good one, but inevitable, as every industry benefits from information technologies and can save a bundle and make more with highly targeted info adverts.
Vivek Hutheesing
· 2 years ago
I agree with this. Just consider how many advertising models in the past have quietly disappeared as the evolving marketplace has driven their ROI's to zero. Dave's prediction is as inevitable as it is elegantly succint.
eddie
· 2 years ago
Interesting concept, but fails to acknowledge that advertising is not placed/purchased based on rational analysis of results. Most advertising is placed as a shot-in-the-dark crapshoot. Sometimes advertising is placed to make the advertiser/agency 'feel good' (example: Our ad is in the New York Times today). Many campaigns practice a "try it and see what happens" approach, and 'what happens' is rarely relevant when measuring success.
All Comments
I wouldn't call Bernays "father of spin, inventor of PR, master propagandist. . . " These methods have been around since the dawn of history. See my comments here as well:
http://www.alphysics.com/html/009-Notes.html#co...
Dave Winer's aphorism seems correct, and I agree, but the real purpose of advertisement is to program human beings. In that sense, it will not disappear.
what about the information that people aren't really looking for? The type of information that does not spread virally, but is still important.
This goes back to that now-ancient question about the expert editor vs. the wisdom of crowds.
I agree with what you're saying, but there are some dangerous issues you're confronting here. And it's good that you are, because they are inevitable.
If they ever talk about better "targeting of messages" they're doing it whether they know it or not. My cable provider is always selling that in their own advertising, that they can reach very specific "consumers" -- it's only a matter of time before they're so specific that they actually say my name in the commercial. I hope to live to see that day. (Of course direct mail got there a long time ago.)
Isn't it like "keeping up with the Jones's?"
This comment confuses advertising with branding - a serious mistake. Even with the most targeted adverting imaginable, there will still be a case and need [both for consumer and "brand"] for brand to exist.