SD#21: Fame, inspiration and stress
June 5, 2022
Hi friends,
Welcome to another edition of Seven Dawns, your weekly newsletter on marketing, productivity, psychology and more.
Our seven ideas this week:
1. (Marketing) The most fundamental objective of brand marketing is to achieve fame. Fame is an unequalled business advantage Advertising used to be a small part of marketing. Over the years it has managed to encapsulate most of its function. We will not delve into the reasons here, nor the consequences. Instead, we will focus on things we can control – what is one capability of advertising that has the greatest likelihood of increasing success? Is it differentiation or positioning? Is it creativity or great targeting? Is it empathy or brand purpose? Or something else. As per the wise words of Bob Hoffman, ‘the main advertising influence on their success is fame. As you’ll see, I believe the most probable driver of brand success – and the central principle of communication that we advertisers can control – is fame. Not brand meaning, or relationship building, or brand purpose or any of the other fantasies that the advertising and marketing industry has concocted… Fame has many positive but not necessarily logical associations. These include trust, social acceptance, and credibility. Any brand can try to differentiate or position itself by saying these words. But only fame has the unique ability to communicate these attributes without having to say them. Most marketing and branding “experts” believe that people have an understanding of the “meaning” of brands and the differences between brands, and based on these understandings, make purchase decisions in reasoned ways. Consequently, differentiation and positioning have become primary elements of brand strategy.’ The three-word brief by Bob Hoffman |
2. (Business) If you go looking in the same place as everybody else for inspiration, your work will start to resemble theirs This one doesn’t need much explanation. If you look for inspiration in the same place as your competition/peers, your work will be bound to look like theirs losing any effect. There is an argument (that I believe as well) that copying other people’s work can be beneficial at times. The crucial element in that argument is that you have to be determined to improve the work you take. Don’t just accept it as it is – desperately tries and improve work as it’s the only way you won’t always end up second. |
3. (Marketing) During natural browsing, display ads are glanced at for 0.9 seconds. Only 4% of viewers glace at ads for more than 2 seconds In 2016 (the data is that old), research firm Lumen has used laptop-mounted eye-tracking cameras on 300 consumers’ laptops to collect visual data on what they notice when they are online. And over this period the study, recorded 30,000 minutes of data, with evidence relating to around 15,000 digital ads. It found that only 35% of digital display ads received any views at all. And, of those, only 9% of ads received more than a second’s worth of attention. Only 4% of ads, meanwhile, received more than 2 seconds of engagement. Marketing Week I would guess that the statistics are much worse 6 years on |
4. (Psychology) We have less motivation to do something when the incentive is gaining something compared to not losing something Would you put more effort into gaining £10 or not losing £10? Well, the answer is clear – we are willing to put more effort to ensure we do not lose something, despite the two sometimes being incredibly similar in terms of rewards. Human behaviour is more strongly driven by the motivation to avoid losses than to pursue gains (loss aversion) studies have shown. Loss aversion also motivates higher effort investment in effort-based decision-making, while the effect of loss aversion during a performance may depend on the task type or effort level. National Library of Medicin |
5. (Productivity) To think different, read different “Read different to think differently; world is already into rat race” said Aman Jassal. Continuing on our theme of looking for inspiration elsewhere, this quote caught my eye a while back. Reading allows us to enter a different world that we couldn’t experience beforehand. It allows us live through other peoples’ eyes and their decisions. I’ve recently finished the book ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ by Khaled Hosseini. It is a story describing the volatile events of Afghanistan from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding. A troubling book, but eye-opening nonetheless. My understanding of the Afghani culture and the violence, fear, hope and faith that generations of this country have endured has completely changed. |
6. (Psychology) Stress in short bursts is good for the brain, but constant stress can turn into acid for the brain Stress isn’t always a bad thing. In some cases, like when you’re starting a new job or planning a big event like a wedding, stress can help you focus, motivate you to do well, and even improve your performance. But some of the reasons stress can be positive in these situations is that it’s short-term and it’s helping you get through a challenge you know you can handle. Experiencing stress over the long term, however, can take a real physical and mental toll on your health. Research has shown a connection between stress and chronic problems like high blood pressure, obesity, depression, and more. WebM |
7. (Marketing) Marketing is at the intersection of art and commerce When I mention to others that I work in marketing, a typical response ‘so you’re a creative person then’ usually follows. There seems to be an underlying belief that marketing (particularly advertising) is a creative subject and while I do agree that there is a huge element of it, creativity after all is one of the largest contributors to advertising success, but it is not all that marketing is. There is plenty of analytical folk within marketing (including me) who crunch numbers so desperately needed within the function. This duopoly of two extremes, creativity and analytics, art and commerce, creating and selling, is what makes marketing what it is |
Fun things to click on:
A list of things you’re allowed to do that you thought you couldn’t. Mvsep is a free web-based service that separates any song’s vocals and instruments. It’s useful for singers and musicians, but it also provides a new way to appreciate your favorite songs. Tune into random forests around the world.
Thanks for reading! If you have any learnings you’d like to share with me, or disagree with any of the ones above then do drop me a message.
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Speak soon,
Tom