Tom Asacker

Al Ries on belief

"When you believe in something, you seldom change your mind."

And it's obvious from Al Ries' latest rant in Ad Age that his mind is set in the stone age of mass marketing manipulation. Here are a few excerpts:

"It’s not a better product or service that makes a brand powerful. It’s the brand’s market share. Brands like McDonald’s, Starbucks, Rolex and many other brands are powerful because they dominate their market segments."

"Over time, most brands in a category tend to be quite similar. The consumer, however, notices a difference created by the brand name itself. Perception dictates reality. Starbucks coffee tastes better because the consumer thinks it tastes better."

"When you believe in something, you seldom change your mind. When you believe in something, what you generally do when faced with facts that seem to contradict your beliefs is to fault the execution, not the strategy."

As Maslow once said, "If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail."

Luc de Brabandere on new ideas

"Astonishment + Questioning = New Ideas"

Think about this equation as it relates to new ideas about product and service offerings. Suppose you were just surprised by an advertisement (and by surprised, I mean surprised by the relevance of the product or service attribute). What would happen next? Well, if the ad was effective, you'd question your thoughts about that particular brand, as well as the category as a whole. You may even do a little "research" or, if it's a low-risk decision, check it out further by going there or buying one. Assuming that the brand experience was an improvement over the status quo, you'd probably adopt it. You may even recommend it. But probably not.

Make a quick list of all of the present brands that you own, use or frequent. Now be honest. How many have you recommended to others over the past few weeks? Ten percent? No way it's that high. Hell, I really like many business blogs. But I've never sent an email out to my list and recommended them. Have you? And please don't tell me that a blogroll of dozens of sites is a recommendation. It's reciprocal back slapping.

Do I have a point? It depends on you. If you've gotten yourself all worked up in a tizzy believing that one form of marketing communication is the be all end all and everything else is an uninformed waste of time and money, then no I don't. But if you can see clearly that the idea of marketing is to create surprise and questioning and ultimately new ideas and conversations, then hear this! Despite what the blogosphere is telling you (and I'm still trying to figure out why such smart people would lie to you), advertising has its place. It's neither good nor bad. It's simply another form of stimulus. A stimulus that, if done well, does its job exceedingly well.