Reflection On The Persuaders

The Persuaders was an episode on PBS's show Frontline. It basically covered what direction marketing was headed in 2004, and although some of it was outdated (today there is a huge presence of the internet and smartphones), a lot of the information still holds true today. What stood out to me was when the narrator, was talking about clutter, and how it is getting harder and harder to reach consumers. Also, as companies and marketing firms try to "break through" the clutter, it only creates more clutter.

This made me think about how many advertisements I see every day. After I get ready for the day, I walk out of the house and instantly see flyers attached to the streetlight outside my front door, I barely take notice and continue walking to school. As I walk, I listen to music on Spotify, where I hear ads because I don't pay for "premium" Spotify. When I start hearing an advertisement, I simply turn my cell phone volume down and ignore it. Also, every morning when I check my email I have a newsletter from the Brakken Center ready for me to read, this newsletter is usually promoting some sort of business club, I casually delete the emails without even looking at them (which is bad, I know there is a lot of great information). When I finally get to Jabs Hall, I am bombarded by advertisements. the halls are flooded with flyers decorate the building, posters that advertise the career fair, posters advertising the companies going to the career fair, LaunchCats flyers, Toastmasters flyers, and so many more. The thing is, I usually don't take notice of these advertisements.



Although clutter is becoming more and more of a problem, some commercials are permanently engraved in my long-term memory, mainly those that are funny, those that are played entirely too many times, or those that happen to have a catchy song. For example, I always think of Jake from State Farm whenever the word "khakis"is said out loud, or I recall this jingle whenever I hear somebody talking about credit cards. All I know is that as a marketer, it is incredibly important to be different, or as Seth Godin said, "be remarkable".

There are many ways in order to "be remarkable" but taking risks, taking chances, and just doing anything to set yourself away from competitors is the best way to cut through clutter and actually reach a target market.