are marketers helping perpetuate segregation?

At a Client meeting recently, the media buying agency was presenting the media plans for the next year. Given that African Americans over-index in the consumption of this particular brand, the young executive explained how we needed to keep buying space in "Black zipcodes" and "Black media" channels such as BET and blackplanet.com.

The entire room complacently nodded. After all, it makes sense and we've done the same last year and the year before.

But wait, there aren't really "Black zip codes" in London or Sao Paulo. They don't even have "Black media" or "Black brands".

And if you paid attention you might have noticed how in those places the locals' clothes and accents have nothing to do with the color of their skin either.

The US racial history alone cannot explain the gap between White and Black Cultures in this country. After all, Brazil has the world's largest Black population outside Africa, and they didn't exactly board those ships willingly either.

So while there may be other forces at play, it's important to note how lazy marketing, unconsciously or not, benefits from feeding stereotypes and perpetuating the racial divide in this country.

After all, nothing easier for an executive in charge of a "African American brand" to keep plastering "AA zipcodes" and "AA media" with "AA marketing".

Taking risks

When Porsche launched the Cayenne in 2002, the mere idea of a Porsche SUV seemed like an oxymoron.

By then the SUV fever had begun to wane as environmental concerns and the price of gas were quickly growing. (1)

But a Porsche SUV? really?

In time it proved to be a brilliant move, and became Porsche's best selling car worldwide (2)

But how do you extend such a brand further? how do you launch a sedan, a "family" car, without upsetting the finely calibrated image that 60 years of masterful brand management built in our imaginations?

Here is how Cramer-Krasselt suggests it can be successfully done:

- First, it's a Porsche: the latest expression of a fine breed that traces its roots to the dreams of one passionate driver and designer. Beautifully brought to life here by the family tree, among other clues.

- Second, it's a Porsche: no satisfied dad with wife and happy kids rolling on a suburban parkway. It's meant to be driven with the same unapologetic passion and satisfaction as a Carrera.

Keep your audience dreaming, and their realities will eventually justify the premium.

enjoy,

sources: US Energy Information Administration (1), Harvard Business School (2)

Who really decides?

If Freud was right, and our subconscious plays a huge role in the decisions we make everyday, understanding it is of fundamental importance to anyone wishing to influence others.

If you ever sat through hours of bad research downloads, instinctually knowing the "findings" made no sense, perhaps a look into Bernays' theories and work will inspire you to think about consumer stimuli and response differently.

Here's a great BBC documentary on 100 years of market psychology.

enjoy,

Fueling spiritual ADD

Money can't buy you Happiness, but it can buy Joy.

As ad people, we wonder about the value our work brings to society. Are we really helping the world move forward? or just convincing people to buy things they don't need?

Advertising certainly helps improve the world by informing people and fueling competition, which eventually translates into better, more affordable goods for all and creates jobs along the way.

Another way to look at it would suggest that advertising helps fuel spiritual ADD, distracting society from the pursuit of happiness and instead tempting us with the rewards of joy.

A new dress, a new car, a new stereo or a vacation are Joy Fuel: acquisitions that give us a rush of a temporary wellbeing, which disappears as soon as new events unfold or the novelty wears out.

Happiness in the other hand may be a permanent state of higher bliss, but attaining it requires years of spiritual work. Certainly a daunting prospect, and a far less attractive one in a society driven by instant gratification.

In such a world, it is far too easy to be distracted from our pursuit of Happiness and instead fall prey of the quick fix offered by the Joys of Capitalism.

So while advertising isn't any more evil than a hammer or a cup, it can enrich popular culture and our lives just as quickly as it can become the lubricant of our procrastinations, perpetually distracting us from our true purpose in this Life.

Interestingly, research indicates that the elder, precisely the section of society less impressed by brands, novelty and trends, are consistently happier than younger generations.

For more details on this particular evidence, see this Washington Post article.