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Re:Minimum Viable Personality (2011) by ed312 on Friday March 01, 2019 @10:09AM (#19281273)
Marketing absolutely works - and the great news is you can advertise or market your product differently to different groups of people. You may loathe them, but sales and marketing folks are in demand for a reason.
Re:Minimum Viable Personality (2011) by asdgionbionio on Friday March 01, 2019 @10:13AM (#19281312)
I don't dispute that it works. I claim that the fact that it works is a bad thing. It is actively bad for the buyer and, even for the seller, is probably zero-sum.
Re:Minimum Viable Personality (2011) by ed312 on Friday March 01, 2019 @10:19AM (#19281362)
Why is it bad? People (or companies) become aware of products that may solve their needs. Marketing does not mean "shut off your brain and buy our product" - it can simply be to raise awareness. You still need to do your own personal due diligence on any product or service you purchase.
Re:Minimum Viable Personality (2011) by asdgionbionio on Friday March 01, 2019 @10:31AM (#19281484)
>People (or companies) become aware of products that may solve their needs.

Who doesn't know what Coca-Cola is? Who doesn't know what a Macbook is? Who doesn't know what Disney is? Who doesn't know that Ford makes trucks? Who doesn't know that Budweiser makes beer?

You have a theoretical justification for advertisement. If you actually switch on your TV, you will see almost entirely advertisements for products you already know of that are making a purely emotional appeal.

Look at these companies:

https://www.businessinsider.com/10-biggest-advertising-spend...

Every company is a household name.

Look at these ads:

https://www.adsoftheworld.com/collection/2018_super_bowl_com...

How many of them inform you of something you've never heard of? How many of them make a logical argument rather than just baffling you with bullshit?

Re:Minimum Viable Personality (2011) by leetcrew on Friday March 01, 2019 @11:11AM (#19282000)
> Who doesn't know what Coca-Cola is? Who doesn't know what a Macbook is? Who doesn't know what Disney is? Who doesn't know that Ford makes trucks? Who doesn't know that Budweiser makes beer?

from the vantage point of 2019, it seems obvious that these are well known brands that don't need to increase awareness of themselves. but they got to this position by making relatively good products and adeptly managing their brands over decades.

at this point, advertisements communicate brand values more than information about specific products, but I would argue this is actually helpful for the consumer in some cases.

if I'm on a tight budget and need a new computer, I already know not to waste time browsing apple or falcon-northwest products. if I'm a contractor and need a work truck, I'm not going to the porsche dealer. advertisements aren't going to help me choose between chevy and ford, but they can narrow down my search considerably. most ads communicate pretty clearly whether or not you are the target audience for a product, without spending hours comparing technical specs.

Re:Minimum Viable Personality (2011) by mamon on Friday March 01, 2019 @12:18PM (#19282965)
There are new people born every day. I bet you can find many Millenials who don't know who Elvis was, or The Beatles. Coca-Cola would meet the same fate, if it stopped advertising.