Immune to advertising?

Advertising must work I’m sure, otherwise people wouldn’t blow so much money on it. The ad companies must research the shit out of it, but does anyone else think they are pretty much immune to it? I don’t think I ever make a purchase based on advertising. If anything, it can turn me off a product if the ad is shoved in my face when I’d rather be looking at something else.

If I want something, I’ll research it, ask for recommendations or make a choice based on what’s easily available locally. TV advertising in particular is utterly baffling to me, I’ll often see one and remain utterly clueless as to what the product or service even is, let alone be motivated to buy it.

Am I fooling myself, is it subliminally making me buy shizzle I don’t want? Or does it genuinely not work on some people?

Well that picture of the Curtis made me want one, so I guess it does😀

Advertising does work, but may be trying to do something different from simply making you want to buy something now.

Typically it boosts awareness of a product/brand, so when you are “doing your research” it’s something you have heard of and feel is the kind of thing you might buy, rather than something cheaper and nameless from China that might actually be just as good.

The reality is that for significant purchases none of us are 100% analytical about deciding what to buy – some level of emotion plays a significant part, whatever we may like to think.

Anybody who thinks they are immune to it is fooling themselves. Possibly if they are that easily fooled then they are actually even more susceptible to it 😉

You might not buy the headline products but it will have an effect

Anybody who thinks they are immune to it is fooling themselves.

Maybe that’s why I asked in the OP!

Am I fooling myself

I do accept the answer might be “yes”!

The bulk of advertising is for the bulk of people who are “normal”. If you are situated outside of that “normal” (for whatever reason) then those adverts will be pretty much meaningless.

The bulk of advertising is for the bulk of people who are “normal”. If you are situated outside of that “normal” for whatever reason then those adverts will be pretty much meaningless.

Err, thanks. I think? 😄

Some of what is used to influence you may not even occur to you as advertising.

What happens when you do your research for example? The search results you see or the articles you read or the journalists (influencers) you rely on are potentially pushing a certain brand your way in exchange for payment.

Likewise, running an ad blocker doesn’t mean you don’t see any advertising.

Err, thanks. I think? 😄

Speaking for myself!

You need to read the terms and conditions of STW, Footflaps. 😉

I had long since given up trying to use Youtube or STW on my phone then came… .

I find the least obtrusive advertising the most effective. When the adverts come on TV the volume goes up so I turn the sound off and  do something else for the time they run. I don’t even try to watch films on channels with too much advertising such as RTL. However a channel which doesn’t turn the volume up and tells me that the ads are going to last 90s I watch.

Huge banner ads are just part of the scenery and I just don’t notice the product apart from the purple ones for the sex toy shop and a lingerie ad that nearly had me walk into the bus stop.

As for STW, the trowser co ad worked and I was amazed to find Sarizin still exists but I’ve been trying to remember the companies behind any of the really irritating shite and can’t.

What happens when you do your research for example? The search results you see or the articles you read or the journalists (influencers) you rely on are potentially pushing a certain brand your way in exchange for payment.

I get that if I was looking to buy say an airfryer and just I Googled “best airfryer”.  I know the top hits are sponsored.  So I’d probably ask my mates or on here or look at past threads on the subject.  For hobbies and stuff, I’d go to specialist forums – i.e. motorbike forums for biking clothes/accessories.

I’m researching tents at the moment so am using YouTube a lot.  Now clearly a lot of big channels on YT are sponsored, but there are a gazillion smaller ones with just a few dozen followers who definitely aren’t.  I think it’s relatively easy to spot the genuine reviews from the sponsored ones.

Ha….what Edukator said 🤣

More broadly, yes. We are of course all influenced by advertising.

One of Patagonia’s most successful ad campaigns ever was their ‘don’t buy this t-shirt’ campaign. So an anti advertising messages clearly work too. There’s a ‘Big Hitter’ who famously claims to be immune to advertising. Looking forward to that contribution…..😜

Which reminds me. Watched a thing on Prime video a few days ago. Several adverts in a 40 minute episode. I knew it was coming.  I think I will not renew my annual subscription and just get deliveries to the corner shop.

Don’t use the video enough to justify the add free version at £12 a month

It’s things like the football shirt sponsors I don’t really understand. For one team’s supporters they are going to see it a lot – and think favourable things about the brand. But for 19 teams worth of supporters they are going to have at the very least negative subconscious feelings about the brand if not openly hostile one surely.

Or those big advertising hoardings in airports. I might not remember what brands were there – but most of my conscious feelings about being in airports are about being bored, frustrated, kettled and herded. Why would companies want my feelings about their brand these subconsciously transposed.

I think it’s relatively easy to spot the genuine reviews from the sponsored ones.

But those “genuine reviewers” will have been influenced by advertising, so you’re not immune to its effects either.

Personally, I don’t look at much advertising but I know it’s there. And many types of advertising just don’t push my buttons. For example, motor vehicle adverts rarely feature the things that influence me most.

Well my road bike still has rim brakes, mechanical gears and inner tubes so I must be immune to bike industry advertising at least! 😂

And since most of my TV watching is Eurosport and I haven’t developed a gambling habit I guess television advertising doesn’t work either, thank god.

Am I fooling myself, is it subliminally making me buy shizzle I don’t want? Or does it genuinely not work on some people?

Maybe?

I would differentiate between buying shizzle you dont want vs sticking a particular brand or even a product group in your memory. Show me an advert for Farage action figures for example and I am happy I wont be influenced, unless I then see an advert for throwing axes.

To take your “air fryer” example. The advert for “dissonances airfryer which includes a wax your bikechain mode” might not get you buying my airfryer (please do since seconds of research has gone into my usp) but might get you looking at airfryers in general. Since you arent prone to advertising you then come here to ask about airfryers but since most people are prone to advertising we have a bunch of people on this site who have looked at air fryers and then seen they can also use it for their bikes which then results in them all telling you to buy my great product (15% off if you buy before July).

As a general rule I am always treat people who announce they are purely rational and uninfluenced by advertising etc with suspicion. Whilst there are probably a few exceptions most of us have a bunch of cognitive biases and if you dont accept that then you will be even more at risk.

All the adverts you are exposed to throughout the day have an effect. The banner ads, the posters on bus stops, the carrier bags people are carrying, the ads that are on in the background while you make a cup of tea thinking you’re not paying attention – they all sink in.
When you go to buy a product all that info is stored in your brains somewhere, so when you are choosing which are ‘good, reliable’ brands you are influenced by stuff you didn’t even know you’d seen. And if you ask your mates they’ve experienced it all too.
I doubt if many people see an advert and think “I’m going to buy that”, not on a daily basis anyway, but surely everyone realises that they’ve been influenced sometimes for years, decades even, before they make a purchase. We buy Yorkshire tea in part because of our good associations with Yorkshire. If it was called Rutland tea it wouldn’t sell nearly as well.

I can still remember the huge ad hoarding in the entrance to our local airport the last time I visited. No idea which company had chosen the model to pose for them though.

Car ads are the ones that baffle me. Usually filmed in the wilderness or on deserted urban streets rather than in a traffic jam and the stereotypes they choose as models can’t possibly correspond to the pensioners that buy say a Renault Capture. I guess even Renault know that so they’ve taken the piss out of car advertising and used a model wearing a cardigan in their latest effort:

As a general rule I am always treat people who announce they are purely rational and uninfluenced by advertising etc with suspicion.

Suspicion seems an unusual reaction, I wasn’t expecting that!  Whilst I wouldn’t claim to be purely rational I have, sort of (not entirely seriously) claimed to be immune to advertising.  Why would that make you “suspicious”? Of what, dishonesty? Ulterior motives?  If you said I was naive, deluded even I could accept that. I’m not sure how I’ve done anything to arouse suspicion though?

We buy Yorkshire tea in part because of our good associations with Yorkshire. If it was called Rutland tea it wouldn’t sell nearly as well.

Ah…. but how come it still sells in Lancashire? 😉

While talking about advertising what is the point of showing cars that aren’t UK spec or video games which state not actual game footage? 🙄

I must be immune to bike industry advertising at least! 😂

How did you end up with glf wax then🤔

If you said I was naive, deluded even I could accept that. I’m not sure how I’ve done anything to arouse suspicion though?

Sorry that was badly phrased by me.

It wasnt meant as a direct answer to you asking about whether advertising works especially since you are actually asking which shows some uncertainty. I meant those people who state they arent influenced by advertising/news headlines/whatever without any doubt at all.

I’ve looked around the house in seach of things that advertising in any shape or form might have influenced the purchase of. The Marshall amplification definitely: ads, product placement; ambasadors for their products. The Samsung stuff: ads. The Fender stuff; yup, I’ve seen that logo in so many contexts. The really nice leather sofa; hmm maybe, it’s a local furniture store that stuffed things in my letter box for years and one day I was passing. The cars: madame Edukator’s choice definitely down to ads, my choice following with interest EV development rather than ads – but the ads may have helped persuade Madame to go along with the purchase. The food in the fridge: Nope, I shop in Aldi because I discovered Aldi in Germany over 40 years ago and liked the concept.

Edit: Oops, just looked in the wardrobe: Addidas stripes, Quicksilver waves, DC logos, North Face… . Buy the dream Mr Edukator.

“ but how come it still sells in Lancashire? 😉”

Fair point well made.

I wonder it it sells less well in Lancashire than anywhere else? I’d love to see figures.

I know that when Kevin Keegan advertised Sugar Puffs sales went up just about everywhere but rocketed  in Newcastle. In Sunderland, however, they plummeted.

While talking about advertising what is the point of showing cars that aren’t UK spec or video games which state not actual game footage

They only need to film one advert for multiple countries, just change the voice over, so much cheaper.

And, I’m guessing here as I don’t play computer games, but the not actual footage probably looks better than the actual footage?

I have once consciously bought something from an advert, but it was actually the CD of the album which contained the song used in the soundtrack (Lightning Seeds, Jollification if anyone really wants to know) I like to think I’m immune but as people have said above it may be influencing my perception of different brands well in advance of when I go looking for the thing I need. One which I am aware works on me is the buy two get one free type promotions in supermarkets, if it’s something I usually buy anyway and the sell-by date is ages away, or it’s non-perishable then I’ll buy more than I usually would

The food in the fridge: Nope, I shop in Aldi because I discovered Aldi in Germany over 40 years ago and liked the concept.

Same, circa 1984 as a young squaddie in BAOR.  Aldi then was laid out even more randomly and chaotically than now. Always an Aladin’s cave though.  I still love the aisle of dreams – going in for some halloumi and yogurt and coming out with a MIG welder and a five man tent!

Munster tanks NAAFI 1980  😉

You may think you’re immune…… trust me you’re not. Just about to career move out of the advertising/adtech/marketing industry after 15+ years and there’s never been more tools to segment, analyse, predict snd nudge consumer behaviour. The ability to to use propensity modelling (watch The Great Hack for an excellent layman friendly explanation how this works) to drive campaigns & change behaviour is equally amazing and terrifying.

The sheer number of eyeballs on a brand now thanks to internet and connected TV mean the first part of the AIDAA (awareness-interest-desire-action-advocate) funnel is easier than ever, adtech takes care of the rest. There’s already connected TV adtech that will serve relevant ads to you based on behaviour predictions from which buckets/segments you fall into.

TLDR: It’s almost impossible to be immune. You may *think* you’re immune, but even then, there’s a consumer profile modelled around that persona, and a map to nudge you!

TLDR: It’s almost impossible to be immune. You may *think* you’re immune, but even then, there’s a consumer profile modelled around that persona, and a map to nudge you!

Interesting. But I’m clinical. You are thinking about it from the wrong end of the lens.

Advertising is about numbers isn’t it? Taking the sales of product A from X to Y. The marketing department or agency would be happy to meet a target of sales. But that sales number won’t be 100%. I think you could say you could sway the general mood towards a brand/product – but I reckon you’d fail the test to take that down to an individual level.

To live up to your statement I challenge you to generate a sale from a specific user here for a specific product from a specific brand they have never bought from before. Lets make it easier for you and making it a product and a brand they are demographically likely to buy from, but just haven’t for whatever reason.

Now, the STW collective is a pretty narrow subset of society and I’m pretty certain you could turn the heads of a profitably large number of us – but one specific person from that crowd? Whilst the crowd might not be immune, the individual can be – and normally is.

It oftens help to let Homer explain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muAt5uNMcYA&t=2s

Hmmm … how do I post a video so it appears as a nice little preview rather than as a blue text link? Bonus points if you can tell me subliminally.

@convert –  an excellent question.

But – and it’s a big but – there’s zero interest in the individual at granular level commercially. But group a bunch of individuals and you very quickly see patterns. We’re frighteningly predictable animals (see also profiling in crime).

That said – the length of the sales cycle varies wildly from category to category, territory to territory, so driving sales is one but not all of the success measures. Net promoter score, brand awareness, market share capture, customer profiling are all uses of “advertising”. But I reckon with the right timescale, the right data and the resultant plan, pretty much anyone at individual level could be influenced. Data privacy has made it a little harder but I think even I as an individual could do it. Looking at your earlier post, I picked up that you focus on “pain points” and emotions attached to boredom, frustration, stressful locations like airports, and negative feelings towards rival football teams. In your case, I’d target you with things that made you experience more of that. Then “pattern interrupt” with subtle mood lifts where my client brand subtly features, subconsciously positioning them into positive feelings. Repeat in more places, more different messages and before long, if you’re “focused grouped”,  you’ll report positive sentiment without even realising its happened.

Hmmm … how do I post a video so it appears as a nice little preview rather than as a blue text link? Bonus points if you can tell me subliminally.

It’s cut & not paste possible the url

There is a section of society that cares very little for consumerism and thus advertising has very little if any influence on them.  Looking round my flat almost all my electronics are secondhand and old.  The razer I shave with was a gift 40+ years ago.  I have never bought furniture apart from secondhand, same with crockery and cutlery and pots and pans ( I bought 3 properties fully furnished over the years)

This place is probably a bigger influence on me than any adverts.  I don’t really watch TV and when I do adverts are muted and I often go off to do something when they are on.  I buy no magazines, I run adblock so I dont see any ads online, I am logged out of google and refuse cookies so I see no targeted ads anyway.

Stuff is bought for function and convenience and price.  Not for aspirational reasons.

thought of one thing – my fatbike was advertised by a bike shop as ex demo at a good price so I bought that – but I was looking for one anyway so all the add did was let me see the bargain price – and the only reason I saw it was because I follow the shop on facebook because I know the bloke running it.

I cannot think of anything else I bought because it was advertised

I do understand this sort of lifestyle is not very understandable to many

blokeuptheroad

Nice sublimity!*

that’s what I did, but it came up as link. However, I’m about to try pasting the ’embed’ code. Here goes:

—————————————————————————————————————————

Blimey! I tried it and got to a scary looking page that said (in big letters):

A potentially unsafe operation has been detected in your request to this site
Your access to this service has been limited. (HTTP response code 403)

If you think you have been blocked in error, contact the owner of this site for assistance.

Block Technical Data

Block Reason:
A potentially unsafe operation has been detected in your request to this site

… so I won’t be trying that again.

*not sure if that’s the word.

I think it depends what device you are on. I posted that from a Chromebook but I think from my phone it’s just the link with no preview.

Oh, this got interesting when andyrm joined. Not in a here for the arguing sense.

There’s a ‘Big Hitter’ who famously claims to be immune to advertising. Looking forward to that contribution…..😜

Incoming!

tjagain

Full Member

There is a section of society that cares very little for consumerism…

Hi TJ. 😁