320 Years of History
Gold Member
- Thread starter
- #41
Red:
They absolutely should be held accountable.
The legendary Scheherazade of Arabian Nights fame kept herself from being beheaded by the promise of pleasure from her fascinating stories. She enraptured the king, who typically executed his virgin wives after one night of being with them, by telling him a story that made him eagerly anticipate her next exciting new story, night after night, for one thousand and one nights. The promise of pleasure is indeed powerful, and evokes in us the motivation to re-experience pleasurable feelings again and again.
Trump's political strategy is little other than that used by producers and sellers of high end consumer goods. Whether one takes inspiration from Sheherazade, finds it in in an MBA curriculum, or a scholarly business journal, the message is the same. The critical levers to successful luxury goods marketing are eight:
- Performance
- Pedigree
- Paucity
- Persona
- Public figures
- Placement
- Public relations
- Pricing
Luxury goods producers (sellers) recognize that even though most people can't buy their products with the same insouciance they have about grabbing a candy bar or gossip magazine at the grocery checkout aisle, they know equally well that if they can successfully convey the sense that buying and owning their wares will make the person feel like they "belong," aspirational consumers who can, over time and want to have a "fine" whatever will "buy into" the allure and "feel good" messaging. As a result, one sees folks (I have no idea of how many) who live paycheck to paycheck, albethey decent paychecks, nonetheless buying $10K baubles and/or pricey homes.
For example, remember the 2008 real estate crash? You don't think that happened because people bought homes priced, by any sane measures, within their means, do you? The home was "so nice" and it was what they aspired to; it's what they felt (not thought) they deserved as much as anyone else, perhaps even more than some folks whom they know. So why not?....Then some banker or broker told them they could afford it, and put "lipstick on the pig" that was their mortgage contract and they signed on the dotted line. That's the power of emotional marketing.
I'm a watch collector, so I am inundated by marketing from pricey watch companies. Look at what they subtly but not expressly, just like Trump, promise me:
Breguet --> My lady will be like a queen and that's how I'm treating her by buying her a Breguet.
Patek Philippe --> A legacy.
Vacheron Constantin --> I'll be among the elite.
Emotional marketing isn't limited to expensive watches, however.
Volvo --> I'll feel free as if at the helm of my ship exploring the "oyster" that is my world.
Nevermind that folks who routinely buy products from those makers already have substantive personal and professional accomplishments that make them elite, give them a legacy, make them free and so on. A watch is never going to do that and buying one or not isn't going to serve as a proxy for the legitimate accomplishments that will. Neither is Donald Trump going to return American to the often overlooked working class citizens who form the base of his support. All the same, to aspirational consumers, that message is exactly what they want to hear -- that Trump's message is what they want to here is neither surprising nor unjustified -- and, as with those foreclosed upon homeowners who against all better judgment listened to the bankers and brokers, they're buying it.
You don't have to take my summarization as gospel....there's plenty of research on the matter as it applies to luxury consumer goods and services, which is what Trump has been selling all his life.
- The Role of Packaging in Brand Communication
- Understanding Consumer Values and Socialization -- A Case of Luxury Products
- Customer Communications Management in the New Digital Era
- Emotional Branding and the Strategic Value of the Doppelgänger Brand Image
- Emotional Brand Attachment: Marketing Strategies for Successful Generation
"One facet of the conceptualization of emotion that is often overlooked is the fact that it is often more of a social than an individual phenomenon."
No one wears a Burberry trench coat merely to stay warm. No one buys Dom Perignon just because they’re thirsty. And no one forks over two hundred grand for a Bentley simply to get from point A to point B. No. Luxury products exist for a much less rational reason. Therefore, the marketing of them must be much more emotional. In short, mass marketing is the business of selling reality. Luxury marketing is the business of selling dreams. It's promoting the fantasy over the reality, emotion over reason, and yearning over satisfaction.
The concept of emotional marketing isn't new. What's new in the political area is the extent to which Trump applies the very same principles that made his hotels and casinos and golf courses successful to whatever extent they were/are. Namely, the approach of intimating or outright saying exactly what potential customers want to hear regardless of how untrue it is.
I have no idea what the conceited con-man O'Reilly thinks. But it could be --- by accident --- that I agree with him. In fact --- I think the Trump minions are gonna HATE his "deals" and his "people" within MONTHS of seeing the government operated like a corporate sponsored reality show...
-- but I always spell C_K's name with the underscore.
