The Persuaders

The ideas portrayed in “The Persuaders” are that today’s consumers are experiencing marketing and advertisements on a whole entire new level as what it were a decade ago. Many advertisers now have to go in to the psyche of the consumer and focus on what is mentioned as “the reptilian brain.” The famous marketing guru, Clotaire Rapaille, coined the term “reptilian brain”. He believes that “the first time you understand, you imprint the meaning of this word; you create a mental connection that you're going to keep using the rest of your life. And to create this mental connection, you need some emotions. Without emotion, there is no production of neurotransmitters in the brain, and you don't create the connection. So actually every word has a mental highway. I call that a code, an unconscious code in the brain. ...” With this said, marketers now have a new way of looking at their future marketing campaigns, with the idea that imprinting words with a mental connection will come to consumers thoughts when come in contact with the word or emotion. 

Some common elements in the persuasion/selling points of advertising and marketing, is to appeal to the consumer. This can be done in many ways. For instance, many companies will gather demographic information from research companies, they will also gather "ethnographic and psychographic information, which will then give companies the advantage of knowing what to market where and to whom." 

Where are we headed? That is a question many want answered. What our future beholds can change at an instant.  Many marketers are now figuring out whether using different language can actually make a difference in the consumers’ attitude towards a product. Propaganda is also becoming a big phenomenon in the advertisers eyes.  Instead of making commercials, advertisers will now include their name into a program, something like brand placement.

As I have seen this documentary, and have been a long time consumer my self, I believe that marketing will always have issues. Like as many people say, “nothing is perfect.” What the advertising world is trying to do, is to appeal to everyone’s needs and desires, in which they can sell the most products for the least amount of money, which then, will make them the most money. 

Questions for Exam #2

1. Which type of brand/ing is considered "the placement of one brand within another brand?"

a)Flanker Brand

b)Complementary Branding

c)Ingredient Branding

d)Co-Branding

Answer: C- Ingredient Branding

2. What is the correct consumer decision-making process?

a)problem recognition->information search->evaluation of alternatives->

purchase decision ->post purchase evaluation.

b)evaluation of alternatives->information search->problem recognition->

purchase decision->post purchase evaluation.

c)information search->problem recognition->evaluation of alternatives->

purchase decision->post purchase decision.

d)problem recognition -> evaluations of alternatives-> information search->

purchase decision->post purchase decision.

answer: A

3. The five roles of the buying center are: users, buyers, influencers, deciders and gatekeepers. Of these, which one controls the flow of information to members of the buying center?

a)Users d)Deciders

b)Buyers e) Gatekeepers

c) Influencers

Answer: e- Gatekeepers

4. Define continuous campaign schedule of advertising.

a) Combining advertisements with other marketing efforts into larger more integrated effort revolving around a central idea or theme.

b) Continuous advertising with bursts of higher intensity during the course of the year, 

most notably  during peak seasons.

c) A schedule in which companies present ads only during specific times and not at all during off seasons.

d) When the company advertises in level amounts because product purchases are essentially "random" events. 

Answer: D