It has been sometime since I wrote a book review. I was going through a book hiatus .. at least as far as non-fiction was concerned. I found myself picking up books and after reading the blurb finding they did not interest me in the least !!! So back to the shelves they went !!!In this involuntary moratorium I saw "Brandwashed" .. it looked interesting enough that it funneled through .. after all Behavior Economics is a fascinating area to explore !
As far as this book is concerned I do not think the information is particularly new - much of the material is known. Neither do I think that the marketing techniques are hidden tricks .. save for a few. However it is the specificity of the cases that is interesting.
Some snippets -
1. We do know that music influences us .. but the author shares details of how changing the tempo of the music changed how the customers viewed the time taken to be served in the customer complaints queue.
2. By doubling the size of your shopping cart, you end up buying up to 40 percent more.
3. Malls and certain kinds of stores become the “cool” hangout location — this is engineered by marketers, who often hire sexy, good-looking kids to stand casually in front of the entrance. Miraculously, the area is soon packed with other kids !
4. Ever heard of Listerine and Halitosis ??? Today Pharmaceutical companies do not market only for known terrible conditions like cancer, Alzheimer's but create conditions we never thought of - Restless leg syndrome? Fibromyalgia? Who even knows such things exist?
5. Supermarkets sprinkle select vegetables with dew drops of water — these sprinkler like drops serve
as a symbolic - of freshness and purity ! It may that the vegetables so doused with mist may rot faster due to this treatment !
6. Colas and other beverages have water drops on them - what those little drops signal to us subconsciously is that the beverage is not just cold but ice-cold, making it more tasty and refreshing. And those little drops kick-start the brains’ craving impulses to have a cool drink !
7. Mommy Guilt is a ploy used to sell to new mothers. There are so many ways to make her feel inadequate and of course there is an endless array of products - from LeapFrog computers for young children to organic baby food to postnatal exercise videos to baby gates to child proof cabinet locks to ointments to safety bath-time thermometers to pre-school educational toys and baby video monitors to alleviate all that guilt !
8. The book claims that Apple’s iPhone has become the most effective tool in human history to mollify a fussy toddler - because an Apple store is made to resemble an international day care.
9. That marketers are trying to reach younger and younger children .. is nothing new ."Pester Power" [ refers to children's ability to nag their parents into purchasing items they may not otherwise buy ] is nothing to be sneezed at - it is a very powerful marketing technique !
So marketers want to catch the kids while in the womb itself ! :)
A shopping chain sprayed J&J baby powder in the baby clothing area and added soothing music and a smell of cherries... pregnant women were exposed to this calm atmosphere while browsing. The end result ? After birth when the mothers entered the mall .... if their kids were fractious they became noticeably quieter ..!!
10. Games are designed to be addictive and hard to quit - by literally re-wiring the brain's reward system circuit... and turn people / children who use them into brand ambassadors for a brand or product.
The more points you win, the more levels unlock, keeping you in the never-ending pursuit of higher and higher highs and bigger and better rewards.
Think - Farmville, Mortal Kombat, Mafia Wars, Playstation , Xbox.
Also - Food companies sell junk food using multimedia games, online quizzes, and cell phone apps.
11. One of the earliest ads I remember watching and being fascinated with is the Alka-Seltzer ad where 2 tablets are dropped into crystal clear water in a glass. And what that did - although in reality only one tablet is required , most consumers drop two tablets !!
And guess where this kind of marketing is used - Chocolate. Cheese puffs. Cookies. Chips !
"No one can eat just one !" - Does that ring a bell ?
Of course it was disturbing to read that many of these foods also contain habit-forming substances like MSG, caffeine, corn syrup, and sugar.
12. The author compares royalty to a long term high end brand - "Every single royal family in the world knows that the best—and quickest — way to boost its popularity ratings is to host a royal wedding. [Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton :)) ] A close second? The arrival of a royal baby !"
Now this was something I did not know before !! :)
13. Digital footprints - This covers a whole gamut of details that help marketers target the exact loan one is looking for , the kind of products one wants to buy , the general profile of a person and his/her shopping habits - This is nothing new - we know .. every "like" we click is helping form a demographic profile of ourselves that help companies target us with perfectly tailored ads.
In fact just send a mail with a specific topic in gmail and see the "More About" - links .. they will reflect your message content ! Write about baking and links for the same will appear ... write about prep schools and
see how the links change !!!!
14. In what could well be the future of marketing - peer recommendation is where we take the word of our friends in trying out brands. A Hollywood movie The Joneses is about a fake family of stealth marketers who move into an upper-middle-class community and begin to market brands to their neighbors covertly and successfully.
The author did a real life experiment mimicking this concept and the results are very compelling ... !!
All in all a very good read ....... !!!
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