"because the brand is what’s important; the brand is all there is"
With enough marketing and a bit of luck, you can sell anything. Even something as unneccessary[1] as a canned water. Welcome to late stage capitalism.
It's worth learning a bit about marketing to recognize how marketing pushes our buttons. It won't make you immune, to does help you to understand when you are being manipulated. This book is a good start:
"Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert B. Cialdini
I had a realization a while back: nobody sells products anymore. Even the products are part of a marketing campaign. Think of this. Burger Joint comes out with a new burger. They advertise it endlessly, you go to the joint and buy one and give them your money. Would they take your money without giving you anything at all if they could? Of course they would, but that doesn't work. They have to give you something.
The "product" is nothing more than the last mile of a marketing campaign. They don't care about the product, only the revenue. Almost no product is created today that is designed solely to meet an existing market need, they're all crafted as part of a holistic marketing campaign. The product doesn't matter, only that you give them money. People naive enough to not know this and start with creating value are probably laughed at inside marketing and MBA circles worldwide.
Yes. Watch a modern car ad. The car hardly features. No mention of miles per gallon, boot/trunk space or warranties. It's all beautiful people doing beautiful things in beautiful surroundings. "Buy this car and you will become one of them" is piped straight into your lizard brain.
True. But that's why good marketing had never been about the product. It has always been about how it makes you feel. You take a grouo of unhappy people and you can sell a lot of things to them if you phrase it right.
With enough marketing and a bit of luck, you can sell anything. Even something as unneccessary[1] as a canned water. Welcome to late stage capitalism.
It's worth learning a bit about marketing to recognize how marketing pushes our buttons. It won't make you immune, to does help you to understand when you are being manipulated. This book is a good start:
"Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert B. Cialdini
[1]For most people reading this.