On Branding and Advertising Metrics
Reading this fantastic exerpt from George Parker’s new book, Confessions of a Mad Man over at PSFK.
Good thoughts on advertising metrics in general but his arrow is definitely trained on social media as ad platform:
“The current meme du jour branding-wise is all about engaging in “conversations” with consumers. To the point where these poor unfortunates’ are so enthused about “The Brand,” they are actually persuaded to become “The Brand.” I have to confess, I don’t quite see how this works, but, I am told by the people who write about this shit that these Orwellian drones will then see “The Brand” as an extension of their character/soul/lifestyle and therefore be driven to achieve a relationship that persuades them to put Oprah on hold and dash out to pick up a dozen tubes of the miraculous Preparation H Hemorrhoid Cream, they have just read a 140 character tweet about.”
“The point is, it’s just the latest version of smoke and mirrors jiggerypokery that most ad agencies have been engaged in since Nero did his thing all those centuries ago. It simply requires the ability to produce the next white rabbit from the top hat of branding.”
Worth a full read. Thinking about picking up the book too.
