Quote Catcher for MMM for web site
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The many ancient and pagan gods promised to grant wishes of health,
wealth, wisdom, sexuality, love. Those same promises can be found
any time, day or night, just by clicking through your cable box.
Society’s rampant consumerism is fueled by a collective imagination
that assigns magical value to material objects.
While science may have replaced the supernatural in our public
conversation, ancient cravings for heavenly solutions to life’s
problems still heat our blood.
The promise of magical self-transformation through the ‘ritual of
purchase’ provides the basic rationale for much contemporary
consumer advertising.
Today’s screaming infomercials, epitomized by the late Billy Mays, are
living fossils, descended directly from P.T. Barnum and a thousand
other now anonymous snake oil pitchmen.
1928: Paul Mazur says America changed to a ‘desire’ culture –
consumers desire the ‘new’ and reject old. http://goo.gl/2YfNs
By 1928, the hunger for massive consumption had become a virtue,
propelling a surging economy to ever-greater heights.
Frenchman Andre Siegfried wrote in 1928 ‘American’s consider their
standard of living a sacred right’
James Wallen in 1925 said advertising men “were second only to
statesmen in our powers for good.”
The Parsons School 1n 1928 advocated sales messages based on the
sex appeal of objects. Nothing has changed today.
Camille Paglia says commercial popular culture is the authentic native
voice of America.
The American conception of advertising arouses desires and
stimulates wants. To make consumers work hard to get the latest
model at whatever cost. Bruce Barton 1929
What is new is magic, what is old has lost its power. The iPhone 4S is
hot--the 3G a dud.
Amos Parrish taught in the 1920’s “nothing is going to stop fashion. It
wears things out. Industry wants things worn out to sell MORE.
Ernest Calkins on planned obsolescence: “Wearing things out does not
produce prosperity. Buying [more] things does.”
1901 report says inferior goods that wear out quickly have social
value—Cleanliness increased, disease prevented, choice stimulated.
1926 Advertising advice: “Sell them their dreams…they buy hope of
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what your merchandise will do for them. Sell hope, and don’t worry
about selling goods.
Circa 1900-William Dean Howells says advertising must ‘make the
truth sound true.’ #Scolbert
Circa 1900-“The successful advertisement is obtrusive. It continually
forces itself upon the attention.”
Circa 1900-“The more stentorian the voice of the advertiser, the more
unquestionably does the purchaser obey.”
“Beautee Soap. Beautee Soap. Repeat it until it comes out of their ears.”
Classic Ad Movie ‘The Hucksters’ 1947
Education should create consumers-Circa 1900 “education for the
lower class must mean the excitation of new wants.”
Margaret Meade’s mother said: “Advertising is a mode of education by
which the knowledge of consumable goods in increased”
Margaret Meade’s mother: “The Advertiser must excite desire by
appealing to imagination and emotion.”
Branding “compelled the people of Los Angeles and Boston and Duluth
to ask for the identical cigarette or biscuit” 1912 Report.
“If you will eat more Uneeda Biscuit you can do more work enabling
you to earn more money so that you can buy more Uneeda Biscuit”
1905
When gods become brands, their sacred properties live on. Dionysus
becomes Budweiser, Eros animates Victoria’s Secret.
http://bit.ly/KDiFMb
The promise of magical solutions is an essential technique for
marketers.
Advertising says that each of us has the power to spin straw into gold.
Marketing’s magic lamp hold the genie of merchandising happy to
grant all wishes.
By 1895, the Sears catalog touted consumption of material goods as
the key to satisfaction and fulfillment.
Our hunger for magical solutions explains why Harry Potter is a
runaway bestseller.
Fairy Tales are especially suited to create a perfect world in consumer
minds. Ergo, Keebler elves, Snap Crackle and Pop.
Advertising’s Fairy Godmother solves all problems with her magic
wand conjuring products and services to meet every need.
Magical advertising figures—Jolly Green Giant, Tony The Tiger, talking
AFLAC duck, Marlboro Man.
Retail pioneer John Wanamaker himself wrote fairy tale-based
advertisements to lure shoppers to his “Wishmaker’s Town” (store)
“We have bought into the idolatrous notion that we are what we buy”
Tyler Wigg-Stephenson http://linkd.in/KTilYF
Brands have become distinctive markers of human identity. We are
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what we buy. Douglas Atkin http://to.pbs.org/JIujEB #branding 1m
Lee Clow / Apple ad guru: “Articulate who you are and what your
values are” http://gizmo.do/LjPZ63 #branding
Let customers commune with fellow believers. Build a temple to the
Brand God you're creating. #branding http://bit.ly/KaoC0g
1905-John Wannamaker “People do not buy the thing. They buy the
EFFECT. #branding #marketing http://bit.ly/KDiFMb
The great questions of existentialism have found their answer in
today’s materialism. #branding #marketing #Jung
Kierkegaard: Q:For what idea can I live and die? A: Apple?
http://bit.ly/KDiFMb
Humans long to belong to a tribe. Today we signal tribal membership
with what we wear, eat, drive. http://bit.ly/KDiFMb #branding
Brands are imbued with stories customers use to shape their own
identities. http://bit.ly/KDiFMb #branding #BMW #Nike
Darwin: Humans acting in groups survive longer. That makes brand
tribes so appealing. http://bit.ly/LpeA9y #branding #beagle
Strongly individualistic personalities ironically want to belong to a
group “Belonging makes me more me” Atkin http://bit.ly/KDhJWH
“Brands offer us an enhanced and comprehensive version of what we
believe ourselves to be.” Atkin http://bit.ly/KDhJWH
Branding secret: Target the alienated while separating your product
from the mainstream—i.e. #HarleyDavidson - Atkin
http://bit.ly/KDhJWH
Loyalists commonly describe their discovery of a favorite brand as a
special or magical occurrence. See http://bit.ly/KDhJWH
Behold the salvic Mary Kay rep who knocks on the door ready make
the sale that will change our lives. http://goo.gl/fJaUC #brand
Brands such as Harley-Davidson have undeniable cult appeal.
http://goo.gl/iLtwR #branding #brandcults
Social norms determine how you behave in a given situation. Brands
serve the same purpose. http://goo.gl/fJaUC #branding
Brand cults members share an elitism rooted in knowing something
outsiders will never understand. #branding http://goo.gl/iLtwR
“The brand becomes a symbol, a material embodiment of the myth.”
Do you know your brand’s myth? http://goo.gl/Br8WO
Carl Jung: “In an earlier day these forces were called mana, spirits,
demons and gods.” Today we call them BRANDS. http://goo.gl/AGCfp
“Our decisions to do something positive … are the result of animal
spirits…” John Maynard Keynes http://goo.gl/yMsYx
Carl Jung’s ‘collective unconscious’ was the precursor to
crowdsourcing. http://goo.gl/6BkOE
Belief in the supernatural is as American as apple pie.
http://goo.gl/2H9dJ
Viacom’s Mel Karmazin, discovering Google accurately tracks its
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#advertising results, “you’re fuckin’ with the magic!”
http://goo.gl/mip1c
The best #advertising functions as mythology. http://goo.gl/dB0WP
Americans have lost the stories that define who we are, where we
came from. #marketing http://goo.gl/SpLwm #advertising
Myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of
the cosmos pour into human culture. http://goo.gl/SpLwm
#advertising
Brands are more than happy to offer up their own vision of how life
should be lived. http://goo.gl/xYP9o #branding
In a society lacking pervasive cultural myths, “Just Do It” becomes a
profound philosophical statement. http://goo.gl/xYP9o #branding
Our myths are increasingly created from what we buy.
http://goo.gl/xYP9o
As advertisers create brand gods to mirror the archetypes that drive
us all, the market takes on characteristics of religion. #branding
The marketer as priest enchants the marketplace with incantations of
value propositions and brand attributes. #branding
http://goo.gl/wtShn
Belonging to a #brand cult allows an individual to more herself. You
become more you. Doug Atkin http://goo.gl/coSl7
#Brand fanatics feel a greater sense of their own authenticity,
indivuality, values, and value. Doug Atkin http://goo.gl/coSl7
Intense #brand loyalty creates a sense of self-actualization. Shared
myths connect the visible and invisible worlds. http://goo.gl/coSl7
Some brands inhabit fantastic geographies such as Marlboro Country
and that ‘endless summer’ beach where Corona Beer banishes all
worry.
Create meaning for your brand by associating with an existing
group’s value system…let your brand come to symbolize that group.
An essential part of the Unique Selling Proposition is bonding the
buyer to the brand’s value system. Social Media is ideal for that!
Your digital media effort must foster storytelling about your brand by
sm users.
Proctor & Gamble has failed to create ‘brand tribes’ of loyal users on
Facebook. Do you agree?
A preacher says “Eat this, my body given to you.” Corona says, “Drink
me, and cast aside your Blackberry.”
Ultimate brand extension-Walt Disney creates Disneyland.
China and France fight for the right to graft Disneyland onto their own
once-exotic geographies.
Haagen-Dazs invented an entire nation to elevate its ice cream.
http://goo.gl/TVGWH
The Haagen-Dazs brand connects buyers to a totally mythical place
and culture. Truthiness, anyone?
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In 1945, Fortune Magazine announced Betty Crocker was America’s
second most admired woman. Eleanor Roosevelt was number one.
#branding
@BettyCrocker is one of many faux-brand personifications - Aunt
Jemima, Uncle Ben, that Quaker Oats guy http://goo.gl/gXA05
#branding
I think Betty Crocker should have married the Marlboro Man.
#branding
In 1923 Bruce Barton wrote ‘the role advertising is to help
corporations find their soul.’ #branding
The enjoyment of physical goods ‘contains a spiritual element.’ 1901
Journal of Political Economy, http://goo.gl/tYun1 #branding ||
Once upon a time, the advertising agency sought the ‘edios’, the soul of
a brand. Do Tweets have soul?
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