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You have arrived at the web home of Noah Brier. This is mostly an archive of over a decade of blogging and other writing. You can read more about me or get in touch. If you want more recent writing of mine, most of that is at my BrXnd marketing x AI newsletter and Why Is This Interesting?, a daily email for the intellectually omnivorous.

October, 2009

Marketing Immunity?

A discussion on the effectiveness of marketing and immunity to advertising messages.
First, Choire Sicha from TheAwl.com on the whole FTC endorsement thing:
Stealth marketing, direct advertisement and product placement work only on the clueless, and our immersive, hippo-like wallowing in the marketplace serves only to make us resistant to these viral contagions. Because the more we are sold to -- and, believe it, we are being pitched every minute -- the more immune we are to it all.
To which Rob Walker "responds" in his linkpile: "That's exactly what the marketing industry experts always say. Probably because it's what they want you to believe it. And why not? It's certainly easier than thinking." I am with Rob on this one. If it were true that we become immune to these sort of messages than us in the marketing industry would never buy anything, right? I mean our job is to sit around all day and expose ourselves to advertising by choice. We purposely notice advertising and we still give into it's pull. I know we all say "people are getting more savvy," but I'm becoming increasingly unsure as to what, if anything, that actually means.
October 9, 2009
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Noah Brier | Thanks for reading. | Don't fake the funk on a nasty dunk.