Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows is set to be released in 31 days, so I thought it would be an opportune moment to discuss the dark arts, Voldermort, of marketing.
* Image courtesy of Westword Blog
The goal of marketing is simple, reach as many prospective customer’s as possible as many times as you can. How do you get there? Well, that’s like asking how long is a piece of string? There are as many ways as there are to skin a cat.
Often people say there are 3 key things to getting your message across; tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them and then tell them again. Reaching the dark arts are where the dark arts marketers come out to play.
To begin with, ‘roaching’ is a spell weaved by dark arts marketers to manipulate the minds of unsuspecting ‘muggles’. Would be actors are paid to go onto buses, tubes and trains to discuss a certain product. The key for this is for the actors to havea normal conversation and then start discussing the product. Unsuspecting eaves droppers would hear people raving about the product and may be tempted to try the product as a result. Doesn’t sound too bad? Who would notice anyway? This is manipulative as it is still a paid advertisement, however, it is disguised as two different consumer’s opinions.
And then came the iPod, which would largely negate any ‘roaching’ practices. As is the case with Harry Potter, the longer time marches on, the stronger Voldermort becomes. This time the battle ground was changed but the usual suspects were still involved. Would be models and actors were employed to hang out in clubs and bars. When approached by men, ‘ Can I please buy you a drink?’, the actors then ask for only one brand/ drink in particular. This has a couple of implications; importantly it increases sales in the short term. Secondly, it makes the drink appear popular. Other women may seethe drink and the girl ordering it and the attention that she is receiving and order the same. Men buying this drink may also purchase this drink to impress other women. Manipulative, check. Subliminal, check. Increasing profits, check.
To quote usual suspects ‘The greatest trick the devil ever played, was convincing the world he didn’t exist’. Well, marketer’s can do this too, and you would be none the wiser. I learnt this marketing technique at university. My university professor taught me how he would use PR to further his client’s objectives at the detriment of his competitor’s. The way he would go about it is by calling someone in the press and telling them that he had heard that his competitor’s product was faulty and caused serious health concerns for consumers. The press contacts would write up a little article in their respective mediums and simply say ‘ an unnamed source …. ‘. Consumer’s today have an insatiable appetite for instantaneous news, as a result of a digital revolution. This insatiable appetite has led to Gen Y being called the ‘2 minute noodle generation’ as they want news but without the substance. This thirst for knowledge has resulted in articles being published without sources being checked, David Beckham could tell you all about this. David Beckham understands the power of the media. Along with suing for damages, David Beckham has also demanded a Full page apology be written to him and his family in the event that he wins this case. It is the media that wins the hearts and minds of the public.
Don’t believe in the power of subliminal marketing? Watch this clip from Derren Brown
‘Expelliarmus’.
