Marketing

[MagisterCultuum]

But, it has to be admitted, I am getting rather old. And not needing any more gadgets does seem to be a feature of aging.

Actually, Functional Fixedness is a well documented feature of aging. Older people in every culture that has been studied are more likely to associate specific tools with specific tasks, and not consider the possibility of using a different tool or using a tools in a way that it had not been used before.

 

[Mise]

Actually, Functional Fixedness is a well documented feature of aging. Older people in every culture that has been studied are more likely to associate specific tools with specific tasks, and not consider the possibility of using a different tool or using a tools in a way that it had not been used before.

Interesting! But the wiki article doesn't mention that it's related to ageing - are you sure of that?

 

[Mr. Dictator]

I like advertising; it gives me an excuse to spout half-understood Situationist gibberish at people who really could not care less.

We've grabbed the wrong magazines!

Slogans! Now half off!


Link to video.

 

[Borachio]

Well, if by "advertising is wasted time" you meant that "advertising is wasted time for you", then that's fair enough. But I think the argument is over whether it is always a waste of time to have adverts broadcast in one's general direction.

Certainly the advertisers don't think it's wasted time and/or money. Nor do the people who buy the products - indirectly paying for the adverts. It's a win-win. Until the damn thing breaks down. And/or is superceded by the next new shiny thing.

This is what keeps the economy moving, and "progressing" after all. Isn't the modern world wonderful?

 

[Mise]

Yeah, people producing awesome things for people to buy because they're awesome!

 

[Borachio]

Yup. And as an added bonus to all this awesomeness, we get to ramp up the greenhouse effect. Wonderful!

(The opinions expressed in this post are entirely the author's own, and in no way represent those of CFC in general, or of any other poster in particular.)

 

[Quackers]

Its quite chilly out so carry on

 

[Borachio]

'Fraid not. The cupboard is bare. I have to go expose myself to some more marketing. Sweet potatoes or parsnips? Hmm.

 

[Mise]

So the problem is that consumption causes damage to the environment? Do you place conservation of the Earth's "natural state" above increasing peoples' quality of life? Or is it the human cost, in terms of flooding, natural disasters, crop failure, and so on, that is the problem?

 

[Deaths Advocate]

But, it has to be admitted, I am getting rather old. And not needing any more gadgets does seem to be a feature of aging.

If this were true, why does my nan get junk mail selling her feet massagers, back warmers, bath steps? You honestly think there isn't a market for old people!?!?

 

[Deaths Advocate]

<snip>

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20355476

To you and any Germans, does this article have any truth? Are Germans really above such nonsense as advertising?

 

[Deaths Advocate]

Watching TV commercials is incredibly expensive - the average American watches over 4 hours of TV per day, at median personal income of $32k, this places the average opportunity cost of watching TV commercials at close to $1000 per year - that's somewhere in the area of $300 billion per year in opportunity cost spent by Americans watching commercials.

Utter nonsense. I'm sitting on my arse, scratching my chin, relaxing in time before I am tired. I am choosing not to do anything productive by watching the TV, and the duration is set by my tiredness. There is no "valuable" time spent.

 

[metatron]

Utter nonsense. I'm sitting on my arse, scratching my chin, relaxing in time before I am tired. I am choosing not to do anything productive by watching the TV, and the duration is set by my tiredness. There is no "valuable" time spent.

Converse fallacy of accident.

Your failure to put television to use as a means to productive pursuits doesn't preclude other people from doing so.

 

[The_J]

But most people don't, IMHO.

Yeah, I didn't realise I wanted a blender where you could throw in a bunch of vegetables without chopping them, put the lid on, press the button, then a minute later, have hot vegetable soup, until I saw a guy demo it in John Lewis. Now I want one, because it's freaking awesome. Making me aware of awesome things is good, no?

It begins even earlier, about things which are normal now.
If you're hungry, wanting something sweet, then you don't only think about chocolate, but about the various chocolate bars. Without advertising, you would probably sure know chocolate, but would you know that there are combinations with caramel, peanut or biscuit? Would you even think about them?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20355476

To you and any Germans, does this article have any truth? Are Germans really above such nonsense as advertising?

Don't see a big connection to ads; and saying that this frugality is normal is also an overstatement, but the mentioned electronic retailer in this article makes ads (okay, that's an connection) with the slogan "parsimony is cool" ("Geiz ist geil"). Doesn't apply everywhere, for sure.

 

[Deaths Advocate]

Converse fallacy of accident.

Your failure to put television to use as a means to productive pursuits doesn't preclude other people from doing so.

Perhaps, but thats how the vast majority do. Or are you seriously going to tell me you watch the X Factor for its educational value?

 

[metatron]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20355476

To you and any Germans, does this article have any truth? Are Germans really above such nonsense as advertising?

Spoilered for being longwinded and being part of a tangent (i suppose you'd advise that):

Spoiler :

The jist of the article is correct in so far that price is a much bigger criterion in German retail than many people in other places in the western world might expect. There are reasons that WalMart failed here (and in Korea) after pumping billions in losses into the economy (thanks btw). This is one of them.

There are other reasons for the existance of supermarkets that the average American would propably expect in Romania: People here are really, really not into service in general and don't consider shopping (other than say fashion) as an event to be celebrated.
People need food (or a new DVD player), so they want to go some place, get the stuff, pay as little as possible and be left the fracking hell alone by silly personal and the like (people who want you to sample stuff...). Shoping is a chore, something to suffer through. So there is no use in decorating or violating someones dignity by making them greet and fake smile at people at the door.
There is lots of advertisement though. Advertisement compliments the German character well: You can be annoyed by it and cite it as evidence that the world is going to hell in a handbasket.

Regarding the whole dinner thing: Boiled potatoes sure are a particularly unimaginative choice and not necessarily representative, but the fundamental observation regarding dinner habits is none the less true.
And, yes, in general upper middle class people here view the upper middle class of the UK and the US as a bunch of spoiled children who mistake expense for class.
Regarding some things Germans (or said starta at least) are excellent materialists though. We tend to have an unhealthy obsession with china for starters. Maybe because it's the first thing you lose in an air raid. Generally people here are very more likely to spend money on stuff that lasts decades or a lifetime: Houses, cars, china, the "basics" of fashion, etc.
Food? No. There you'll see the lawyers and doctors debate the Aldi personal on why that package of rye bread is 0.59 instead of 0.49 all of a sudden and what the world has come to.

but the mentioned electronic retailer in this article makes ads (okay, that's an connection) with the slogan "parsimony is cool" ("Geiz ist geil").

That's Saturn. Media Markt's business model is actually based on overpricing stuff and hoping people won't notice.

Perhaps, but thats how the vast majority do. Or are you seriously going to tell me you watch the X Factor for its educational value?

I have to admit that there is a strong chance that you are right regarding the first part. But i insist that it's not universally true. So at least some people's time is wasted in the narrower sense that you wanted to see applied.
There is something to be said though about relaxation and entertainment being ends that may be obstructed by the commercials and that may very well have hard measurable economic value.
Regarding the second part: I had to look up what that is. God, no! These talent show people (moderators, producers) should be in court, not on TV.
GG 1.1 and all that. The world is going to hell in a handbasket!

 

[Borachio]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20355476

To you and any Germans, does this article have any truth? Are Germans really above such nonsense as advertising?

That article is from the Radio 4 programme "From our own correspondent". One of the best bits of the BBC.

Producing insights into foreign attitudes and lifestyles from all over the world. At least partially.

 

[Deaths Advocate]

@Meta Alas we may be in the minority. considering the numbers a TV show can command like that are 10 Million a show!

 

[civver_764]

How do I notify you of this product without trying in any way to convince you your life would be better with it?

Could you not tell me about the holocaust without implying that it would be beneficial? Or, to use a less extreme example, I can read an article on wikipedia without afterwards believing that it described something beneficial. Informing is clearly something distinct from marketing. Marketing could be described as a particular type of informing, but to deny that a distinction exists is sort of odd.

The fact of me even telling you this product exists can in some way be inferred as meaning that this is something that has been created for the benefit of humanity and in some minute way you could benefit from it. That alone has been an attempt at persuasion and thus, marketing.

Maybe in the context of selling a product it would be impossible to inform someone of it without trying to persuade them to buy it, but that still doesn't mean we should accept it(I think we should reject consumerism itself actually, so the whole idea of "selling" something needs to be thrown out). I'm not saying it's practical or desirable to get a bunch of "marketing police" together and arrest anyone who tries to persuade someone to buy something, I just think its weird that so many people readily accept such deceptive practices as "normal" or "ok." I think we ought to get pissed off at people who do such things.

 

[Borachio]

Don't adverts have to be legal, decent, honest and truthful?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/working_lunch/4588635.stm