For those of you who are interested in how marketers have moulded our consumer culture, I just wrote a pseudo-philosophical piece over on the SearchAnyway Blog. It’s called Entertainment Marketing: Not Boliao, and in it, I challenge some of the ideas that Mitch Joel has postulated. An excerpt:
What’s really happening, however, is that the MTV generations are coming of age. These are the first generations to have been exposed to fully multi-media marketing campaigns (radio, TV, billboard, and print) from day one. Like Mitch, we’re jaded and desensitized from over-exposure to marketing campaigns, but accept them as a natural part of our cultural landscape.
Consequently, anything that marketers do that is remotely original is something that we revel in. After all, marketing is part of our culture, so in our eyes, original campaigns gimmicks are virtually on par with great works of art. When we see them, then, we can’t help but want to share them — and help them spread virally.
Interestingly enough, anything that can get pass our disenchantment with a multi-media consumer culture is considered original. If you entertain us, though, you soften us up and put us in a good mood. When you do that, we’re less prone to feeling of bitterness and ennui. So when we find out that some little piece of entertainment was underwritten and produces by some brand, suddenly we feel enthusiastic about that brand.
What I’m doing, in effect, is applying the theory of entertainment marketing that I recently developed — and just articulated for SearchAnyway yesterday. Over all, the piece really breaks with what’s commonly know as blog-style writing, but sometimes, that’s just the way I roll.
I don’t find what you’re saying at all challenging to my thoughts. In fact, they’re quite complementary.
If there’s one point that may have not have been salient enough in my Blog posting, it’s that this form of video is truly has no point. There’s a point to the Dove and Tea-Partay videos… the Cadbury one is Boliaio because it is mindless and has no point.
That being said, it doesn’t make it any less or more entertaining then stuff that does have a point.
:)
Okay, you got me: our respective perspectives aren’t just not incompatible, but probably complementary. However, I’m not quite sure what point you see to the Tea Partay video other than to parody an already well-played-out pop-culture stereotype.