Yesterday’s article, for all its mediocrity (sorry about that), did spark an interesting question from Yann. He questioned the extent to which the ads I was discussing would generate business for those companies. As I mentioned in my reply to Yann, at least part of the way in which advertising works is to “register” a brand or product at an unconscious level. Given the way in which the unconscious mind works (by associations) I’m convinced that the unconscious benefit is likely to be maximised when unconscious awareness of the ad coincides with positive emotions. Even if the humour has little or no relevance to the product, the fact that the two exist together at that moment in time can have a positive impact. Part of the support for my theory comes from the fact that the only meaningful correlation that people who track advertising have been able to identify from […]
Making Financial Marketing Funny
Humour is often used to make an advert engaging. What’s less well understood is that it also helps to create positive emotions which are then unconsciously associated with the brand or product concerned. The tricky part is that humour is a relatively personal thing and if your ad isn’t funny to enough people the strategy can backfire in exactly the same way. I had hoped to show you a recent Barclays Bank advert, but You Tube let me down – it’s there but with no sound (and the soundtrack makes this particular ad work). Instead here are two examples. The first is an ad that you’ve probably seen before – it spread superbly when it was first released onto You Tube because it’s extremely funny (at least many people think so). And here’s another for a rival credit card that was shown repeatedly in the UK and seems, to me […]
The Easiest Way to Spend Money
Today I had the last of five or six conversations with my brother about buying a camera. I’m no Annie Liebovitz! But I did get into SLR photography many years ago and have had the good luck to take one or two half decent photographs over the years – including one of the Brooklyn Bridge that my brother has in his house. It’s a good picture, although not so good that he’s ever asked me to sign it or anything. Probably the best picture I ever took was of a sculpture. I was in Paris and took a black and white photo of a Rodin work called The Woman Under the Stone (only that in French, I imagine). By over-exposing the picture perfectly, the dark weathering of the sculpture was magically transformed into a dramatic blend of shimmering shades. Of course, this was in the days when you didn’t know […]
The Psychology of Investment Decisions: Follow Up
I’d like to pick up on a long reply to yesterday’s post because I hope I can be more constructive than I was able to be yesterday. Here’s is Pam’s reply to yesterday’s post: It’s interesting to read how the rational and unconscious minds often pull us in opposite directions. Your point is well taken that people often think they want A but actually choose B because it fulfills an unconscious need, want or desire. It is good to bear this in mind. If you are looking to invest your money though, at some point – unless you choose to navigate the investment world yourself – you will likely be forced to make a choice between various options and advisers available to you. In essence, you are trusting your future to advice of someone and their investing philosophy and strategy. The question then becomes in whom do you trust and […]
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