The Persuaders … Streaming on a Laptop Near You

I meant to watch FRONTLINE’S documentary, “The Persuaders,” on the influential cultural power of marketing and advertising … but I was either busy doing something else (like reading my RSS feeds) or I just forgot.

Anyway, “The Persuaders,” which aired last month on PBS, is now available to stream online. Douglas Rushkoff, a respected voice on how new media and pop culture influences society, serves as the correspondent so you know the program has street cred.

You can stream the entire 90-minute documentary on the current state of modern marketing from the comforts of your home computer setup. Kudos to PBS for slicing the 90-minutes into six bite-size chunks.

This is A WAY WORTHY WATCH!!!

Wait ... it’s more than a worthy watch … it’s a MUST WATCH!

Click here to go to stream one or all of the following bite-size chunks online:

1 | A High Concept Campaign - profile of the brand called 'Song' part one
2 | Emotional Branding - profile of the brand called 'Song' part two
3 | “The Times They are A-Changin’” - the trend of seemlessly integrated product placements
4 | The Science of Selling - how consumer research influences marketing
5 | Give Us What We Want - the artful language of political persuasion
6 | The Narrowcasting Future - using lifestyle segmentation data to better tailor marketing messages

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Further Learning:

Naomi Klein on brands and branding | FRONTLINE Interview | January 22, 2004

Douglas Atkin on the culting of brands | FRONTLINE Interview | February 2, 2004

Bob Garfield a gadlfy’s take on branding | FRONTLINE Interview | March 23, 2004

Kevin Roberts pontificating on Lovemarks | FRONTLINE Interview | December 15, 2003

Comments

[Tyler]

I'd be interested in anyone's take on Clotaire Rapaille. Is he gifted or a wack-job (or worse yet somewhere in between)? Anyone have experience with similar research?

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

I found Clotaire Rapaille, a child psychiatrist turned emotional branding anthropologist, to be half-astute and half a-freak. He seems to be well-versed in market research double speak of being general all the while being definitive. I would love to see his ‘luxury code’ work but I don’t have a few hundred grand burning a hole in my pocket like his corporate clients have.

You can read more about Clotaire in this FRONTLINE Interview and in the Newsweek article.

[kirsten]

not cool. you deleted my comments - and they were actually informative, historical, and valid.

kirsten

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

Kirsten ... while deleting spam comments I inadvertently deleted ‘real’ comments. I think it was nine ‘real’ comments (and 50+ spam comments) in total that were deleted.

So sorry.

johnmoore
BRAND AUTOPSY

[AD]

I'd love to know what insights the 'luxury code' has to offer, but none of the corporate sponsors have shared it online. I suspect it follows in line with the whole dominance, exclusivity and stablity/predictability drives.

Regardless, the luxury goods are just that, goods, and need to be updated and re-purchased on a regular basis - materially, the only thing 'better' about luxury goods are [supposedly] the people who buy them.

My suggestion for further reading: if you have an interest in why the consumption cycle keeps spinning, read "The Rebel Sell: Why Culture Can't be Jammed" by Potter and Heath. Its current, well written (hilarious too), deconstructs both corporate marketing ideologies AND the mis-presumptions of many in the anti-corporate establishment, and it actually offers some examples of ways these trends could (if anyone could want it) be reversed for the public good.
Here is a link to an overview: http://www.thismagazine.ca/issues/2002/11/rebelsell.php
I got the book in January, and I've loaned it to half a dozen friends so far - its a real paradigm shifter.
Peace-out.