Goldmine Marketing

Here’s what I’m up to…

  • Kanye talks Emotional Intelligence

    Kanye West is persuasive. As Scott Adams has noted, he’s rocketed to success in industries where he wasn’t expected to succeed. Kanye may be running for President in 2020.

    Hear Kanye talk about Emotional Intelligence here.

  • Baked Beans Bring Hopkins Back (My Life in Advertising: Chapter 9)

    Do you like to barbecue? How about baked beans, do you like them?

    I like baked beans especially at a barbecue. They’re sweet, with a touch of tomato, brown sugar, and pork. They remind me of summer days and paper plates.

    But I don’t eat baked beans weekly.

    Summer barbecue in 1913. Looks refreshing, doesn't it? Photo courtesy Orange County Archives
    Summer barbecue in 1913. I don’t know if they served baked beans. Looks refreshing, doesn’t it? Photo courtesy Orange County Archives

    Apparently in the early 1900s, baked beans were all the rage. People couldn’t get enough. Baked beans were frequently homemade. They would sometimes ferment while cooking. Other times they would explode in the 16 hour cooking process. That didn’t stop anyone.

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  • Persuasion Articles of the Week

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  • Kanye West Reminds Us He’s Running for POTUS 2020

    Kayne West, fashion designer and hiphop mover, recently interrupted his San Jose, California show to tell his audience that Trump is a Genius.

    Amid boos from his fans, Kanye spent about 20 minutes discussing the election and current events. Kanye said he supports Trump’s non-political history and his communication style. He also suggested people need to focus less on racism.

    Kanye West in Saint Paul, Minnesota, 2016. Photo by Jeffrey Thomas,
    Kanye West in Saint Paul, Minnesota, 2016. Photo (c) Jeffrey Thomas

    If you read the headlines and Twitter reactions, you’d think Kanye had joined the KKK. People think that Kanye no longer believes racism is a problem. Their cognitive dissonance is showing:

    Of course, the headline is never the true story. It’s an emotional hook — you click because you can’t believe that’s really what happened. And it’s not. (more…)

  • Persuasion Posts of the Week

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  • Medical Claims My Eye (My Life in Advertising: Chapter 7)

    I am blown away at the number of medical commercials on TV these days (in the US). They’re a huge portion of the evening broadcast. You can’t watch network television without being warned of ED.

    What's the TV suggest today? Photo "Television" by dailyinvention, Flickr, CC-By-2.0
    What’s the TV suggest today? Visual Messages play a large part in our receptiveness to an advert. Photo “Television” by dailyinvention, Flickr, CC-By-2.0

    Did you know that advertising pharmaceuticals directly to consumers is the most common way people receive health communications? It’s true. No one is suggesting the viewers get off their asses to exercise. There’s no money in advertising the health benefits of zucchini — unless you’re the Food Network!

    No one wants to hear the bad news of health issues. Instead, we’re fed commercials of attractive actors frolicking in a meadow. The visual message is Happiness, even as the voice-over suggests the medicine might cause exactly what it’s trying to prevent. Everyone is interested in a sunnier life.

    Apparently, these ads are an improvement from what was published 100 years ago. (more…)

  • Persuasion Articles of the Week

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  • The Echo Chamber of Social Media Divides Us

    Social Media, such as Facebook and Twitter, are great tools for reaching a lot of people… right? Yes, but often new information only reaches those already in agreement.

    Social Media sites like Facebook use complex computer software to filter and sort headlines and posts. Do you like the White Sox? You’ll get stories about the White Sox. This software ensures that most people get news that interests them — including headlines and ‘evidence’ that match their current preferences and worldviews. Facebook’s role is to engage you (and show you ads), not to challenge your belief structure.

    When every headline you see supports your existing belief structure, of course the other side of a political argument is going to be ‘wrong’ — everyone is working from a different set of ‘facts!’

    If you tried converting anyone to your preferred presidential candidate using Facebook, you probably made more enemies than converts.

    There are two likely scenarios here.

    If you tried to introduce new information to your discussion, it was probably overwhelmed by the existing information on the other side, and lead to cognitive dissonance. When someone confronts an uncomfortable idea, they’ll rationalize it away, ignore it, or refuse it. They want to remain internally consistent with their belief structure. People don’t like to disagree with their former selves.

    If that new information did make it into your conversation, it possibly made things worse. Rather than an objective look at a situation when new information comes to light, people will often dig in deeper to their currently-held positions. They want to be seen as socially consistent. Being labeled a “flip-flopper” in light of new evidence is portrayed as a bad quality in presidential politics. People are publicly tied to their identity. They won’t easily give that up.

    Social Media filters prevent people from seeing the same information you see. This has been the case for years now. Our nation is growing apart because of it.

    Any attempt to sway others by highlighting news stories probably never made in front of their eyes. If it did, they dismissed it outright.

    Anything that contradicted someone’s existing beliefs probably caused them to dig in deeper.

    People don’t want to think.

  • Bakers Rising (My Life in Advertising, Chapter 6)

    When you’re shopping, how closely do you monitor the price tags? We tend to think we’re very price-conscious. We do pay attention to price, it’s true, but there are many more factors at work.

    Price is often one of the least important concerns when we find the right item.

    For example, we can get generic shoes at many stores. Do you buy the cheapest shoes you can? Or do you look for something that expresses a bit about your personality? If not shoes, maybe you prefer that people use your title when addressing you. Maybe you like to see your name in lights. Maybe you drive a fancy car.

    Everyone has a desire to express and elevate their status, and the right item to do that will make someone say, I gotta have this, price be damned.

    Chapter 6 of My Life in Advertising, Personal Salesmanship. While Claude C Hopkins worked at Swift and Company selling the lard substitute Cotosuet to home users, the company was having a hard time selling to bakers. The price was higher than the competition.

    Hopkins insisted that price has nothing to do with salesmanship, and he sets out to prove it.

    People want prestige and recognition, including their name in print on an advertisement such as this.
    People want status, prestige, and recognition. Printing the bakery name on an advertisement was reason enough to buy the placards for the window, and with it, the Cotosuet used in the baked goods.

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  • This Week’s Articles about Persuasion

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