Consumerism is immoral!
It’s what most people expect me to say.
“Consumerism is immoral! Hell and damnation blah blah blah!”
XD
Anything in excess is a bad thing really, from chocolates, cakes (chocolate cake? Mmm), too much shopping, and too much hedonism.
There is nothing wrong with indulging in a little vanity (and consumerism) from time to time. For the sake of our sanity at least. XD
But when it comes to consumerism, and taking things in moderation, we lie to ourselves a lot, really.
~*~
If there’s something I’m really uncomfortable in doing, it’s lying.
While there are people that I know where lying is embedded in their system, lying makes me so uneasy.
Yet while I was rereading one of my fave books, All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin, I was experiencing so much cognitive dissonance, especially when he states that as consumers, we lie to ourselves all the time.
(at first, I was like, “excuuuse me!”
…yet in the privacy of my mind, I murmured, “I don’t lie…I rationalize.”
XD)
~*~
Think about it.
The fact that we can afford to blog and use the net shows how far up we’ve gone in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (c’mon, you’ve taken a (basic) Psychology class once in your life! You know this! …but if you don’t, I only have one word for you: Google.)
While there are some of us that are struggling with “making ends meet” as regards their income and basic, survival needs, most of us have our basic needs fulfilled: food, clothing, shelter (and for others, sex).
When we go out to the supermarket/department store/boutique/ukay ukay, we don’t look for the things we need…
We look for the things we want.
If you’re buying food in the supermarket and you’re concerned with survival, the only thing on your list would be rice (or bread/crackers). Canned food. Instant noodles. Water. (come to think of it, if you’re on survival mode, you’d be shopping at the local wet market or sari-sari store, and not at the supermarket. But anyway…)
But what’s on the list for a lot of us?
-Whole wheat bread. “I need to eat healthy food”
-Yogurt and fruit. “Ditto.”
-Chocolates.
-Iced tea powder (or C2 Green Iced Tea) and/or Coke. “Water is boring. I need a sweet, refreshing beverage.”
- Oreos and Pop Tarts. “I need them, period.”
- More chocolates. (wait, this is my list.)
We don’t really need chocolates and iced tea. Or lingerie (“I need to feel sexy!”). Or make-up. (“I need to look pretty!”) Or gorgeous Tyler shoes. Or magazines featuring naked women (I can hear the violent reactions from the men from where I’m typing XDD)
But if you line ‘em up according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, apparently, we “need” to feed our ego…to feel secure…to be socially accepted…to self-actualize ourselves (as if anyone can do this in his/her lifetime! Buddha and Jesus not counted.)
Hence, according to Godin, when you go out and buy a $20 (US dollar) tee from Mango or hot calorific donuts from Krispy Kreme or Gonuts, throughout the whole buying process, you are telling yourself a story, a “lie,” and whatever “lie” you may tell yourself satisfies those wants (disguised as needs…or you can “euphemize” it by rationalizing and using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Suit yourself.)
In fact, whenever you buy a product from a certain store/café/resto which made you feel good (and satisfied your needs wants), and if you’re able to bring that product home with you (i.e. Body Shop products, Starbucks caramel cream frappucino or Starbucks coffee beans), you’re bringing that experience home with you. Think of it as a souvenir of your soothing/exihilirating/delicious experience (now you see why Mango is so obsessed with their packaging and store layout? And why people are obsessed with getting that much coveted “free” Starbucks planner or bag from those sticker promos?)
What’s the point?
Well, in this new age, if you wanna sell an idea/product/cause, it’s futile to resort to the traditional methods of marketing (Advertise, advertise, advertise! Billboard the city to death!). People are so desensitized to ads and billboards (aren’t you??) Just go to Manila. Billboards are everywhere…to the point that only the ones with the half-naked models get attention.
How do you stand out from the sea of useless ads and products?
Tell a story.
Have a great, authentic product, and make it even better by telling a story. Don’t focus on the facts (the fastest way to kill your product/idea), but hype it up. (but you have to have a great product first…when people know they’ve been duped, word spreads faster about deception than anything else)
Appeal to the unmet needs of a particular market (don’t lump people into 18-24 age brackets! That’s sooo 1990s. XD)…from the runners/obsessed triathlon fanatics, to the MMORPG geeks, to the iPod devotees. Stop trying to “one-up” your competition and focus on a different aspect and a different audience (smaller perhaps, but more loyal, and have the ability to spread the word to their other friends).
You may not be a marketer (in the traditional sense), but All Marketers are Liars! is a great, useful, and a particularly insightful read…with a lot of human nature and humor thrown in. Because deep down, we’re all marketers, really. :)
“Consumerism is immoral! Hell and damnation blah blah blah!”
XD
Anything in excess is a bad thing really, from chocolates, cakes (chocolate cake? Mmm), too much shopping, and too much hedonism.
There is nothing wrong with indulging in a little vanity (and consumerism) from time to time. For the sake of our sanity at least. XD
But when it comes to consumerism, and taking things in moderation, we lie to ourselves a lot, really.
~*~
If there’s something I’m really uncomfortable in doing, it’s lying.
While there are people that I know where lying is embedded in their system, lying makes me so uneasy.
Yet while I was rereading one of my fave books, All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin, I was experiencing so much cognitive dissonance, especially when he states that as consumers, we lie to ourselves all the time.
(at first, I was like, “excuuuse me!”
…yet in the privacy of my mind, I murmured, “I don’t lie…I rationalize.”
XD)
~*~
Think about it.
The fact that we can afford to blog and use the net shows how far up we’ve gone in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (c’mon, you’ve taken a (basic) Psychology class once in your life! You know this! …but if you don’t, I only have one word for you: Google.)
While there are some of us that are struggling with “making ends meet” as regards their income and basic, survival needs, most of us have our basic needs fulfilled: food, clothing, shelter (and for others, sex).
When we go out to the supermarket/department store/boutique/ukay ukay, we don’t look for the things we need…
We look for the things we want.
If you’re buying food in the supermarket and you’re concerned with survival, the only thing on your list would be rice (or bread/crackers). Canned food. Instant noodles. Water. (come to think of it, if you’re on survival mode, you’d be shopping at the local wet market or sari-sari store, and not at the supermarket. But anyway…)
But what’s on the list for a lot of us?
-Whole wheat bread. “I need to eat healthy food”
-Yogurt and fruit. “Ditto.”
-Chocolates.
-Iced tea powder (or C2 Green Iced Tea) and/or Coke. “Water is boring. I need a sweet, refreshing beverage.”
- Oreos and Pop Tarts. “I need them, period.”
- More chocolates. (wait, this is my list.)
We don’t really need chocolates and iced tea. Or lingerie (“I need to feel sexy!”). Or make-up. (“I need to look pretty!”) Or gorgeous Tyler shoes. Or magazines featuring naked women (I can hear the violent reactions from the men from where I’m typing XDD)
But if you line ‘em up according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, apparently, we “need” to feed our ego…to feel secure…to be socially accepted…to self-actualize ourselves (as if anyone can do this in his/her lifetime! Buddha and Jesus not counted.)
Hence, according to Godin, when you go out and buy a $20 (US dollar) tee from Mango or hot calorific donuts from Krispy Kreme or Gonuts, throughout the whole buying process, you are telling yourself a story, a “lie,” and whatever “lie” you may tell yourself satisfies those wants (disguised as needs…or you can “euphemize” it by rationalizing and using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Suit yourself.)
In fact, whenever you buy a product from a certain store/café/resto which made you feel good (and satisfied your needs wants), and if you’re able to bring that product home with you (i.e. Body Shop products, Starbucks caramel cream frappucino or Starbucks coffee beans), you’re bringing that experience home with you. Think of it as a souvenir of your soothing/exihilirating/delicious experience (now you see why Mango is so obsessed with their packaging and store layout? And why people are obsessed with getting that much coveted “free” Starbucks planner or bag from those sticker promos?)
What’s the point?
Well, in this new age, if you wanna sell an idea/product/cause, it’s futile to resort to the traditional methods of marketing (Advertise, advertise, advertise! Billboard the city to death!). People are so desensitized to ads and billboards (aren’t you??) Just go to Manila. Billboards are everywhere…to the point that only the ones with the half-naked models get attention.
How do you stand out from the sea of useless ads and products?
Tell a story.
Have a great, authentic product, and make it even better by telling a story. Don’t focus on the facts (the fastest way to kill your product/idea), but hype it up. (but you have to have a great product first…when people know they’ve been duped, word spreads faster about deception than anything else)
Appeal to the unmet needs of a particular market (don’t lump people into 18-24 age brackets! That’s sooo 1990s. XD)…from the runners/obsessed triathlon fanatics, to the MMORPG geeks, to the iPod devotees. Stop trying to “one-up” your competition and focus on a different aspect and a different audience (smaller perhaps, but more loyal, and have the ability to spread the word to their other friends).
You may not be a marketer (in the traditional sense), but All Marketers are Liars! is a great, useful, and a particularly insightful read…with a lot of human nature and humor thrown in. Because deep down, we’re all marketers, really. :)