PROMOTION All product promotions, in one way or another, convey the same simple, subliminal message: If you the consumer owned this product or service, you too would become A Winner! How is that message conveyed? To which human urges do you appeal to convey that message most efficiently?
Every good promotion is acted out on a stage of instinctual human needs. The promotion works because it offers redemption from fear and insecurity by appealing to fundamental human urges, all of them unsatisfied in real life, yet each of them paramount in the unconscious mind of every normal consumer.
Begin with fear. Every human being is beset, consciously or unconsciously, by fears, including fears of inadequacy. Am I too fat? Am I ugly? Am I too hairy? Are my breasts the right size? Will bird flu kill me? Will terrorists kidnap my children? Is my car too old? Is my outdoor barbecue fancy enough? How long before I get cancer? Is my diet poisonous? Is my spouse bored with me? Am I a loser? I could go on indefinitely. Build your stage with subtlety so the consumer won’t become defensive. Let the consumer unearth his or her own fears excited by the imagery you project. Once those fears have been unleashed, present the cure.
Offer prestige. Most people and Americans in particular, have a pathological need to be liked or admired by everyone, and so they constantly seek prestige. Hence, the promotional message must be that the owner of this product or service will shine above other people who don’t own it. The owner will show that he or she is keeping up with the highest strata of society. Ownership of this product or service will force others to respect, admire, and envy the owner.
Demonstrate romance. Prove with graphic imagery that to own this product or service is to associate one’s self with success in romance, with desirability, and with sexual prowess and passion. Let the consumer cast himself or herself as the hero/heroine in the romance novel of sound and sight bites you present. Keep the imagery warm and fuzzy for female consumers; lean on sexual power for males.
Suggest magic. The powers of this product or service are so great and so rewarding that they exceed all those of the ordinary, natural world. They convey their magical powers in ways that remain a mystery, but there is no doubt. The product or service unlocks doors to mysteries greater than our understanding. Anything can convey magic, but technological devices and new medicines are the most convincing. A magic magenta pill will make your pain go away and save you from disease, surgery, and death. The magic moisturizing lotion will give you the soft skin of a baby and cure your naturally rough, pachyderm hide. These magic shoes will elevate you at last to the level of a goddess, and save your dumpy self from the ridicule you suspect others heap upon you. This magic automobile will finally give you the ride a true warrior deserves. It is an extension of you, a portrait of your true self, and it will help you drive triumphantly past your small penis, your fear of public speaking, that time the bully intimidated you, and your brutal, insensitive, uncaring father.
For a real kicker, after a solid dose of fear, offer prestige, romance, and magic all together in a single package. They are irresistible when taken together, and they will make anyone think that he or she is a winner.
Apply enough skill over a long enough period of time to the same group of people, and you will be able successfully to promote anything. Doing business without serious promotion is insane. The practice persists only in isolated backwaters where the natives do not have ready access to communications. There, I am told, traders still try to sell things because they are supposed to be useful, well made, durable, and a good value for the price. As media saturation spreads, however, such ideas will be exterminated and we can look forward to a world utterly attuned to the urges of the inner self and liberated from the tiresome bondage of so-called common sense.
Promotion helps people mine their most poignant delusions, and the gems they find give them enough vitality to endure their lives a little longer.
