How brand thinking imposes unnecessary things on us

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

It's no secret that one of the main disadvantages of television is advertising. Advertising appeared in the United States, most likely due to the constant search for new ways to increase sales, because the constant growth of sales markets is the main goal of the capitalist system.

This event happened back in 1941, and the first product advertised on TV was a watch. Many years have passed since then - a lot has changed: advertising has become an integral part of the television process and, accordingly, the daily life of people, the main way of earning money for TV companies. Advertising itself has significantly transformed and now has a much more aggressive effect on viewers, prompting them to buy this or that product.

Many people believe that advertising is useless, that not a single video, shown a thousand times on TV, will make you buy something. "Then why do companies spend so much money on advertising?" - I want to ask. After all, these companies also probably employ smart people who know what they are doing. In addition, you can easily track statistics: if after the Nth number of ad impressions, sales grow, then the ad is working. But they are growing …

That is, we can safely conclude that advertising is not just that, and it affects our brains, and, nevertheless, “helps” us to make the “right” choice in the store. But how? How does this happen? It is clear that it is unobtrusive, but what are the mechanisms? As a result of such a dialectical analysis, it was possible to identify several ways of influencing the psyche of an individual in order to increase the demand for a product.

So, the methods of influencing a person's thinking, used in advertising, to promote goods and services:

1. Formation of the image of "familiarity" of the product.

2. Creation of the illusion of awareness of the proposed product.

3. Manipulation of scientific facts in order to prove that this product is the best.

4. Endowing the product with certain socially significant properties.

5. Introduction of the name or advertising slogan of the product into the active vocabulary of the consumer.

6. Creation of the myth that "everyone does it".

1. Formation of the image of "familiarity" of the product

This is, perhaps, the main method of influencing our thinking, and it is in it that the main meaning of any advertising lies. Suppose a situation: you came to the store to buy … uh … let's say diapers. You buy them for the first time. You don't know anything about diapers !!! Question: which diapers will you buy? The question, of course, was rhetorical. Most likely, it will be either Pampers or Haggis. Why do you buy them ?! Advertising does not work on you in any way !!! Buy better diapers "Baby freshness"! What? Have you heard anything about Children's Freshness? On the counter there are still a bunch of diapers from different companies, some of them are much cheaper and, perhaps, are not inferior in quality, but for some reason you take what you think you KNOW. The keyword FAMILIAR was here, and it was highlighted for a reason. This is the main goal of any advertising: to make the advertised product familiar.

To do this, this ad must be scrolled a million times across all channels, and must be demonstrated several times in primetime. And after seeing the video a thousand times on TV, you go to the store and buy this product, because you think it is already known. You have already heard and seen something about it, and you see other brands of the same product for the first time. But think about what you really know about the product that has been offered to you on TV for so long and persistently ?! Most likely nothing. You do not know what kind of material or ingredients are used for the production of this product, you do not know anything about the company that produces it, you do not know anything about the production technology of this product and its advantages or disadvantages, etc., etc. And you do not know why it costs an order of magnitude more than all other products from this category.

You have just heard and seen something on TV, and what you saw may well be a lie, because those who advertise their goods are unlikely to be honest with you if their product has any defects. In addition, a product that is so persistently advertised on TV, as a rule, is more expensive than other brands, not because it is of better quality, but, most likely, because it is necessary to somehow recoup the high advertising costs.

The familiarity effect is greatly enhanced if you come across this product for the first time. This, alas, is how the human brain works: it treats something unfamiliar with caution or even perceives it as a danger, and treats something familiar more loyally, and under familiar often, unfortunately, we mean things about which there is something somewhere. I heard there.

2. Creation of the illusion of awareness of the proposed product

Basically, this method is completely based on the first. The only difference lies in the details of the presentation of information. Now we see not a simple advertisement with a simple, but necessarily life-affirming slogan (like: "Be yourself!"), Calling to buy some product, but we are also told some information about the product, which, by the way, may also be a lie or not quite true. With regard to the same diapers, we will definitely be told that Haggiz diapers have some kind of cunning UNIQUE super layer specially developed by scientists, and this super layer holds water very well, etc. Here one of the keywords is “unique”, since the information provided about the product should distinguish it favorably from other products: a unique super fastener on panties, a unique shampoo formula, a unique composition of a deodorant, etc.

Thus, the individual creates the illusion of being informed about the product. The person believes that he knows something about this product. But in reality, if you think about it, we actually do not know anything about any product, except for what was reported to us on TV. If you stop a young mom on the street now and ask her to explain how diapers retain moisture, then most likely she will tell you about the same super layer mentioned above, that is, what she heard in the advertisement on TV. But if you ask this young mom to explain how and by what means this super layer retains moisture, the physical meaning of this process, then almost no one will answer, but everyone is sure that this super layer definitely exists … And after that we wonder how people burned Giordano Bruno who considered the Earth round …

3. Manipulation of scientific facts in order to prove that this product is the best

This method is based on the previous one, but now in advertising, facts (often false information) about a product are presented in such a way as to emphasize the uniqueness of the properties of this product, its dignity, or to attribute to it those properties that this product does not possess at all.

Example: everyone probably remembers an advertisement for Blend-a-meth toothpaste, when one side of an egg is treated with ordinary paste, and the other with the advertised one, and placed in acid, and after which the part that was processed with ordinary paste becomes soft, and that the part that has been treated with Blend-a-meth remains firm. A kind of pseudoscientific experiment proving to us, TV viewers, that it is Blend-a-meth paste that is what we need. As if our teeth are in acid every day (in its 100% solution).

Question: Has anyone done this experiment at home? Has anyone verified the accuracy of what we are shown on TV? And after all, something suggests that an egg, having been in acid, is unlikely to remain solid after processing with Blend-a-meth paste. The product has clearly been given a property that it does not possess. Why?! This is work at the level of stereotypes: you come to a store, you see ten brands of pastes on the counter, and only one single Blend-a-meth paste protects even from acid. What kind of pasta will you buy ?!

There are a lot of examples of such manipulation: these are various cleaning products and powders that wash "even the most stubborn dirt" (from the advertisement of "Domestos"), these are yoghurts, which even schoolchildren now know about the super-usefulness of which, these are super-resistant cosmetics that can even withstand bathing in water, these are anti-aging creams, which in ten days smooth out all wrinkles, etc., etc.

About Yoghurt - Excerpt from the book by Dr. N. Walker "The Natural Path to Full Health": "As a drink, yoghurt, as far as I know, does not have any special advantages. I once attended a funny lecture on healthy eating. The lecturer, a very confident woman with a flabby body, talked about the beneficial effects on her life of yogurt, which she drinks every day three times. I think it never occurred to her that she owed her saggy belly to her favorite drink. In addition, she constantly blew her nose into a large handkerchief (as eating dairy products filled her body with mucus). Dr. N. Walker is one of the renowned naturopathic physicians who developed the raw vegetable juice treatment system. His death is still shrouded in mystery, but many of his followers claim that he lived for one hundred and twenty years, although according to official figures - ninety-nine, which, you see, is also not a little.

4. Endowing the product with certain socially significant properties

Success

With the help of this method of promotion, an attribute characteristic of a certain social stratum is made from the product, and, accordingly, this is demonstrated in all its glory in advertising. For example, I recall an advertisement for a mobile phone, when a business man (who looks like a businessman) in a nice expensive suit with well-groomed hair, sitting at a business meeting, puts his mobile phone on the table. Thus, there is a binding of a specific thing to social status: this phone is for business people, if you are a businessman, then you simply have to buy yourself such a thing.

Very often this technique is used in advertisements for cars, watches, and perfume. Also, the product is often tied not just to social attributes, but to beautiful, successful, rich, seemingly happy people. How many times have you watched this picture on TV: she, a beautiful girl, takes a sip of the "miracle drink" and dissolves into a grimace of pleasure and happiness? How many times have you seen a successful actor who was hired to appear in an advertisement gets behind the wheel of a beautiful expensive car or advertises eau de toilette? And here not only a direct connection is established - you are successful and rich, which means buy this thing, but also the opposite: if you WANT TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL AND RICH, then buy this thing, and do not start working and doing something in life. This is often presented as the secret of success.

Success with the opposite sex

There is one more of the extremely important parameters that the product is trying to endow - this is success with the opposite sex.

Example: An advertisement for Ax men's deodorant. Everyone has probably heard about the “Ax-effect”, when girls literally “stick” to a guy who has been sprayed with a miracle deodorant ?! The advertising message is as follows: use Ax deodorant and you will be successful with women. And, it would seem, complete stupidity - after all, this is not at all what determines success with women - but it works, it works especially well for those who have a problem with this very success. And here a simple version of its solution is offered.

Example: Advertising of the new Tuk biscuits. A guy sits on a motorcycle and eats cookies, and at some point we are shown how a pretty girl looks at him with special interest. And, it would seem, why would a girl be in a cookie ad? Then we are again shown a guy who continues to eat cookies and smiles with a shrewd expression on his face: "I know, it should have been, I am eating these cookies - now all the girls are mine!"

Helps fight complexes and deficiencies, phobias

Often the product is presented as a means of dealing with some kind of shortcomings or ailments, including those of a social nature: fears, shyness, indecision, bad mood, depression, etc., etc. I remember that once there was an advertisement where we are shown a gray boring world, then the advertised product appears, and the world begins to transform: bright and juicy colors appear, the sun shines, people rejoice and dance. What is this if not an attempt to endow the product with the property of an antidepressant?

Masculinity / Femininity

How often have you seen in an advertisement a tough, sweaty man who climbs a rock or sails on a yacht or is actively involved in sports, and then picks up deodorant and sprinkles it? And the following phrase sounds: "ONLY for real men." Or else I heard this: "With Oldspice, a baby has become a man." I think there is no need to explain to anyone that no deodorant will make you a real man or a real woman.

Social status

One of the famous brands that refers specifically to status items is the iPhone. And this brand is very successful in promoting its product in this way. An example from life. Two girls are sitting. One is holding an iPhone, and she nervously runs her finger across the touchscreen, trying to find something. Then she turns to her friend: "Damn, do you know how to send SMS here?" And another friend began to help her understand the interface of this STATUS device.

A reasonable question arises: why did this girl buy herself such a phone from which she is not even able to send an SMS? After all, it is obvious that this particular girl will not use half of the functions that are in this iPhone, bought for a lot of money. Why waste that kind of money ?! Yes, just the advertisement convinced her that with this particular phone she would look successful, "advanced", businesslike, etc. So the poor fellow is tormented, just to preserve his image.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of such examples, and this suggests that advertising works and is quite effective.

5. Introduction of the name of the product or the advertising slogan of the product into the active vocabulary of the consumer

Example: Many people probably remember the advertisement for Stimorol Ice - “In Search of Icy Freshness”, when a man jumps into an ice-hole, and the others ask him: “Well, how? Ice? " The man, being in the hole, answers with a displeased grimace: "No ice." Which, in essence, means "not cool". That is, advertisers tried to introduce a new JARGON word into the viewers' lexicon, which will replace such words as “cool”, “cool”, “good”, “wonderful”, etc. And, you must admit, they succeeded - the word "ice" got into our vocabulary and many people, especially young people, began to use it in their speech.

In fact, the roots of this method go back to the very first method of product promotion, namely the formation of "familiarity". All people talk about it, everyone knows it, which means it's familiar, which means you can safely buy, and out of ten chewing gums, most likely, the choice will fall on the cooler one, that is, "ice" …

Example:Another advertisement from a well-known manufacturer of chocolate bars: "Don't slow down - snickersney!" What could this "snickersney" mean? What did the advertisers mean by this word? We can only guess, but it could mean "take a break" or "have a full blast."

So, with the help of creating new words, brand thinking is formed, and now, along with ordinary words, you can use "snickersney", which, in addition to the meaning assigned to it, carries the brand name; the same applies to the word "ice". Agree, the best advertisement is the one that speaks about the product every day, regardless of whether you watch TV or not.

I would also like to note that with the help of this method, viral words are infused into our native Russian language, which replace our indigenous ones, but our words carry a lot of meanings: for example, the word "wonderful" essentially means that thing or phenomenon that is noticeable, that is, it attracts attention. And what is the original meaning of the word "ice" ?!

6. Creation of the myth that "everyone does it"

This technique is also often used in advertising. Have you seen such ads, where, for example, they show a busy street, and on it every second person drinks Coca-Cola or eats chips? A lot of shots are flashing, they are trying to show us in a short time all segments of the population, of all ages, with satisfied faces from the use of this product. This is the essence of the method, they say, look - everyone does it. See how they all feel good, how happy they are to eat McDonald's hamburgers. So it’s delicious, and you’ll definitely like it.

A new reality is created for you, where this product has a certain place in YOUR LIFE.

For example: a hamburger is a good way to have a snack during your lunch break at work, coffee is a good way to wake up, a chocolate bar is a good way to eat and recharge, whiskas is a good food for your pet (and even better than natural food - more balanced, rich minerals and vitamins). Then, when you come to the store and see a product that is heavily advertised in this way on the counter, you buy it, because stereotypes have already been formed in your head: “Everybody buys it. And I will buy, and I need. This is such a good way to have a snack, because how many people eat this way. And you take it, perhaps without even thinking that this is a competent product promotion.

7. Conclusion

Of course, the inevitability of a market economy is diversity; accordingly, advertising in such conditions is also an inevitability for any manufacturer, and not always a malicious fooling of the people. But, nevertheless, the viral nature of advertising is quite common, and people quite often spend a lot of money on goods that they do not really need, instead of spending it on something more worthwhile.