“I've grown certain that the root of all fear is that we've been forced to deny who we are.”
Frances Moore Lappe
I agree with Lappe in so much as I believe that today we tend to over identify ourselves with what we have rather than who we actually are. The consequence of this is both a fear of losing our material wealth and a sense of increased isolation from others who have more or less than us. This in turn seems to lead to an insatiable desire to have more for fear of being overtaken. This is the marketer dream and the very thing they play upon, as they seek to convince us to want what ever it is they have to sell. This is entirely self perpetuating since you buy more to assuage your fear and then fear losing the status it has given you, so in turn need to buy more and so on and so on.
Are you simply the sum of what you have? Are the richest people in the world really the best human beings? Are fear and competition the ingredients for a happy life?
One’s sense of self is greatly influenced by societal norms which are in turn influenced by much of what has gone before in this blog. I believe that we, as individuals, must become aware of our own personal identity and to honestly reflect on what has informed it. We can change what we choose to identify with and thereby change ourselves. When we do this we will become more personally empowered to challenge those who seek to defend the systems and structures which they believe serve them preferentially today.
Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Friday, 13 November 2009
Marketing and the Media: The Sirens of consumerism
"Yes, I sell people things they don't need. I can't, however, sell them something they don't want. Even with advertising. Even if I were of a mind to."
John O'Toole
In the West all but the very few are fortunate to have their basic needs for food, shelter, warmth and safety met. We are consequently pre-occupied not by what we need but by what we want and what we want, is predominately influenced by marketing and the media. Both have been proven to very effective in moderating both our desires and behaviours. This in and of itself is not a bad thing; in times of great hardship when a collective effort has been required both have played a major part in mobilising people toward a common cause. For this reason my concern does not lie with either activities but with the predominate purpose to which they are being applied. The vast majority of marketing and media effort is directed at increasing our desire to purchase things and therefore to consume more natural resources over and above what we actually need.
One could see the media as simply a vehicle for the marketing messages but the media industry is massive and it uses marketing to perpetuate itself and as such is just as malignant. Everywhere you go in the world you will notice their footprints to a greater of lesser extent. If one pays attention to almost every type of advert underlying it is a message which attempts to get people to identify themselves with the product, they are really attempting to sell to your ego and not your rational mind. This is the case for almost everything from automobiles to toilet tissue. The people who are doing this are really very, very good at what they do and if we ever decided that we need to get the global community to change the way they view themselves in relation to the world at large, such people and practices would be vital to the cause.
Of all the current vehicles for the distribution of the current consumerist propaganda today, television must be the most potent. In many countries a license fee to own one still exists, it amuses me to see signs on people's doors requesting door to door salespeople not to call, whilst the inhabitants spend ever increasing hours, paying to watch the best salesperson of all, in not only their living room but now in many other rooms in the house. It is not just the adverts on commercial television enticing us to consume more but also the myriad of lifestyle programmes encouraging us to revamp our living spaces, wardrobes, gardens and just about everything else one could imagine. Furthermore with the advent of digital TV, marketeers can now target groups based on specific areas of interest which is proven to deliver a higher sales conversion rates.
Celebrities also concerns me deeply, not only because they are used as paragons of virtue, to convince us that if we only looked like them or bought the things they did, that we too would be better people but also because it is a sign of what we currently value as a society. The plethora of celebrity based magazines herald these people as idols, people to aspire to be like. If we all lived a celebrity lifestyle things would be many, many times worse than they are today and our demise would be absolutely unavoidable. Who we see as celebrities indicate what we truly value as a culture and contentious though it may be, I believe that suggests that what the majority of people really value, is money, and I find this incredibly sad. If we are to change, we must address this issue and I hope marketing and the media will one day play it's part in furthering this cause and in helping people become aware of the non-financial richness of life.
John O'Toole
In the West all but the very few are fortunate to have their basic needs for food, shelter, warmth and safety met. We are consequently pre-occupied not by what we need but by what we want and what we want, is predominately influenced by marketing and the media. Both have been proven to very effective in moderating both our desires and behaviours. This in and of itself is not a bad thing; in times of great hardship when a collective effort has been required both have played a major part in mobilising people toward a common cause. For this reason my concern does not lie with either activities but with the predominate purpose to which they are being applied. The vast majority of marketing and media effort is directed at increasing our desire to purchase things and therefore to consume more natural resources over and above what we actually need.
One could see the media as simply a vehicle for the marketing messages but the media industry is massive and it uses marketing to perpetuate itself and as such is just as malignant. Everywhere you go in the world you will notice their footprints to a greater of lesser extent. If one pays attention to almost every type of advert underlying it is a message which attempts to get people to identify themselves with the product, they are really attempting to sell to your ego and not your rational mind. This is the case for almost everything from automobiles to toilet tissue. The people who are doing this are really very, very good at what they do and if we ever decided that we need to get the global community to change the way they view themselves in relation to the world at large, such people and practices would be vital to the cause.
Of all the current vehicles for the distribution of the current consumerist propaganda today, television must be the most potent. In many countries a license fee to own one still exists, it amuses me to see signs on people's doors requesting door to door salespeople not to call, whilst the inhabitants spend ever increasing hours, paying to watch the best salesperson of all, in not only their living room but now in many other rooms in the house. It is not just the adverts on commercial television enticing us to consume more but also the myriad of lifestyle programmes encouraging us to revamp our living spaces, wardrobes, gardens and just about everything else one could imagine. Furthermore with the advent of digital TV, marketeers can now target groups based on specific areas of interest which is proven to deliver a higher sales conversion rates.
Celebrities also concerns me deeply, not only because they are used as paragons of virtue, to convince us that if we only looked like them or bought the things they did, that we too would be better people but also because it is a sign of what we currently value as a society. The plethora of celebrity based magazines herald these people as idols, people to aspire to be like. If we all lived a celebrity lifestyle things would be many, many times worse than they are today and our demise would be absolutely unavoidable. Who we see as celebrities indicate what we truly value as a culture and contentious though it may be, I believe that suggests that what the majority of people really value, is money, and I find this incredibly sad. If we are to change, we must address this issue and I hope marketing and the media will one day play it's part in furthering this cause and in helping people become aware of the non-financial richness of life.
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