Most of us probably prefer to believe that we are immune to marketing, that we can see through the fog of advertising, and that we are individualistic and independent enough to make our own choices. While this may be true in some specific areas of our lives, my belief is that marketing takes up a significant part of our ability to think clearly and make decisions, whether we realize or not; sometimes it takes pointing out something near and dear to our hearts to make that apparent.
I’m sure you remember the 2008 Presidential election. Those on the left marveled with incredulity at how many on the right fell straight in line with marketing techniques such as Swift Boat-style attack ads, the creation of personas that people can relate to (Palin, for example), and catch phrases that leave logic and reason out of the scenario and instead focus on stirring up emotion. When marketing can nudge emotion over logic and reasoning then it is at its strongest. You can see how emotion literally takes people over when you go to a sports game or a political rally or a protest or any other number of things that are decidedly based in anger, fear, love and/or hate. What those on the left may fail to recognize is that they, too, fell swiftly in step with a brilliant marketing campaign designed by the Obama team. (I want to note that this post is independent of political beliefs — I’m simply using specific examples to illustrate how all of us can be taken up by smart marketing).
The Obama campaign worked because it appealed directly to the need of so many for a change in the White House, and it appealed to that need at a deep emotional level. Words like Hope, Progress, and Change were used widely in an iconic-looking illustration designed by Shepard Fairey:
Many of us had little idea of what issues Obama actually stood for, and he had very little history to base our opinion of him on. The fact is that when you see such a direct and inspiring poster it stirs your emotional pot up, one way or the other. The slogan “Change we can believe in” and the chant “Yes we can” were both used widely to great effect. As in any effective advertising campaign, specific facts often get lost: what change, exactly? What hope exactly? Anyone can believe in any kind of change, but when it’s focused as brightly and effectively as it was on Obama it can turn into a mass movement, which it did. The majority of Americans got caught up in this brilliant marketing campaign which was fueled by a desperate need for a completely new President and political direction.
Another method of appealing to the emotional side is to cater to the negative. This is where angry radio & TV show hosts full of bile and vitriol succeed. As far as marketing goes, smear campaigns are highly effective tools for moving huge blocks of voters; like I said earlier, hate, anger and fear are just as strong roots to tap into as hope and desire. Both the left and the right participate in this type of marketing, even going so far as to state outright lies or muddy the waters of the truth so as to obscure fact by riling up emotion (shown here in a photo allegedly circulated by the Clinton campaign):
When you see this photo what emotion does it immediately stir? For many people it digs straight into the river of fear with such thoughts (conscious or unconscious) as: “I don’t want a terrorist in the White House.” This is first-rate marketing, indeed!
What I’m trying to illustrate here is that most of us are victims of marketing, which is very clearly illustrated in the political world. Very few of us really know the issues at hand and most tend to vote/support with our emotions, which are easily stirred by well thought out advertising. There is no difference between an ad like this:
and an Obama poster. We can easily dissect the above example by engaging in critical thought: A proven maverick? What does that actually mean? Nothing — they are words specifically chosen by focus groups to tap into voters’ emotions, bypassing logic and incisive thought. Next we can think about how carefully this photo of Palin was chosen (just like the image of Obama in the Hope poster)— think about what kind of emotions it would stir up in certain people and why this particular pose, facial expression, and look worked to move people’s minds.
I believe that if more people were specifically aware of how marketing works and how they are affected by it then we might have a very different political landscape, for the better.
