A Suspension of Disbeliefs: Branding

Sunday, May 15, 2011

The most willing suspension of disbelief in the world? Advertising

This week blogger Rob Verschuren expands on the concept of 'suspension of disbelief' in relation to brands. "If people are willing to believe that the son of God has risen from the grave, or that anyone who is not muslim is the enemy, then it's a piece of cake to have people believe that your brand is better than any other. People are willing to suspend their disbelief if your story is good enough. The impossible is perfectly acceptable even if it is improbable", he says. And that's the beauty in advertising. People know it's advertising - and if they are willing to believe that buying a pair of Nikes will make them a sports star or that drinking a particular beer will get them the girl - those are perfectly acceptable fantasies - a whole lot more acceptable than what many religions ask you to believe or what disinformation your government carefully structures in hopes that you will believe. We thank Rob for giving this blog a nod in linking the aSoD idea. Take a look at his whole post. It's in the Dutch language, but easily translated with Google Chrome installed. Rob and I share a friend in Erik Vos whom I met in Paris nearly two years ago on a wonderful afternoon in the park on a totally different suspension of disbelief.

D a v i d E v e r i t t - C a r l s o n

-------------------------------------------------

Find me on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. Read my previous blog: The Wild Wild East Dailies.

Friday, April 15, 2011

I love Seth Godin - But he doesn't know much about Asia

His latest post, 'Are You Buying an Education or Buying a Brand?" says:

It's reported that student debt in the USA is approaching a trillion dollars, five times what it was ten years ago. Are those in debt buying more education or are they seeking better branding in the form of coveted diplomas?

And that's insane because there's another reason. Doesn't he understand that Asian students are filling up the classrooms in the US, England and Australia left by declining student populations in the West - and that the hallmarks of an ascriptive society are replacing those in America previously based on achievement? And students and parents are more more interested in buying a 'brand'? Most Asian students live in cloistered housing, only deal with their own culture, and many learn little or nothing of the actual subjects - but once that degree is on their CV, they come back to Asia and get hired like fish in an employment net that looks for letters and brand names over any real accomplishment. Could someone please tell me where Steve Jobs went to school? I don't want to go there!

For the record, Seth Godin graduated from Tufts University and received his MBA from Stanford (both strong educational brands). Steve Jobs attended but dropped out of Reed College in Portland Oregon. He has never received a formal degree in any subject.