Immune to advertising?

So when you buy say, pasta sauce, do you end up with a different one each time?

I don’t buy ready made past sauces.:-)

When buying stuff like that tho I will perhaps t5ry a range of items but I will generally buy the one with the least food miles

You’re much more likely to gravitate towards something you’ve heard of.

You maybe – me not.  I will look at where its made, what it contains and what the price is.  I actually prefer to buy non branded stuff where I can.  I buy things for what they are

Shopping trips must take forever…

if you see something for say, a particular EV that has a 400 mile range you might go ‘ooh that’s interesting’ and follow it up.

.. and you may not buy an EV but that search and all the other people looking it up boost the ad’s profile or value and make it more likely to be put in front of someone who is going to make a purchase in the near future. It’s all about fighting for people’s attention.

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.

but you almost certainly do.  Not many people watch an advert and immediately rush to the shops, it’s done so next time you are in buying mode you recognise their product/brand of have them front of mind when you think of that need.

If I want something, I’ll research it, ask for recommendations or make a choice based on what’s easily available locally.

on EVERYTHING?  You go to all that effort for toothpaste, baked beans, deoderant, etc?  Let’s take car insurance – how did you last buy car/house insurance?  Did you use a comparison site?  How did you pick the comparison site?  Once on the site did you pick the cheapest or did you feel comfort for a name you knew that was £1 or £2 more expensive?  Did you try going direct to any of the insurers that don’t operated through comparison sites?  How would you even know they exist?

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.

I had a discussion with advertising people in the late 90s about this phenomenon – and it’s simple if you don’t get the ads you are not the target demographic for it.  Take the stupid tango ads of the era – essentially the market fro the product is everyone, but the bit that is influencable was young people (and of course their power to influence older people).  30 years later – that brand equity means they are probably the most successful orange fizz in the U.K.  Would you fancy making a competitor product and competing purely on its taste/mouth feel etc?

direct advertising doesn’t influence his purchasing decisions.

Yep, but I think that describes most people, doesn’t it? I think unless you’re in the market for a new phone for instance and you see an ad that is offering the brand you like at a discount, then all other times, we’d all happily walk past an advert for a phone and pay it no mind at all….

Take the stupid tango ads of the era

Stupid? You are talking about the finest advert ever made. The work of unbridled genius….

I notice the ‘PSA’ thread is now up to 2,443 posts of people helpfully passing on companies’ advertising.

Presumably before they nip into this thread to insist they haven’t seen an advert since 1943 😉

When I see an add for a JLR vehicle, what I don’t think is ‘ooo I’m going to get one of those’ and pod out £80-130k. What I mainly think is ‘you’ve got to be fecken joking, What idiot would spend thst amount on such an unreliable POS that will halve in value in 2 weeks and guaranteed to leave you stranded at 10pm at the side of the road with the hazard warning lights on.

When I see adverts for cruises, my reaction is ‘**** that, hell on earth. I genuinely would prefer to go to work for a fortnight if that was the alternative’.

And I’ve definitely not started pishing my pants in order to use Tena-Lady.

The last A of AIDAA is advocate. Even if you aren’t the recipient of the AIDA, in asking for recommendations you’re the recipient of the last A who were the recipients of of the AIDA. They get you in the end, guilty of joint enterprise (sort of)

Putoline is interesting because TJ is one of the biggest advocates on here. Not having a go, because it is excellent….they’ve managed to get him to A without any of the AIDA!! An advertising execs dream!!

Must admit that Tango ad is the first one I’ve seen that uses the idea “xenophobia sells”.

We’ve all seen your touring bike TJ, it’s the most influencer based build I’ve ever seen. 😉 The Rohloff for a start, some clever advertising I saw years back got tandem users, tourers and some MTBers intersted and they started to appear on bikes. Magazine articles appeared, fresh goods Friday sort of stuff where companies send stuff out to be tested and returned or as a freebie (been there done that) and the hype mounted. I came really close to buying a Rohloff then tried one and was appalled by the lack of efficiency in the lower range gears and gave up on the idea.

If you don’t advertise you barely exist.

on EVERYTHING?  You go to all that effort for toothpaste, baked beans, deoderant, etc?

No, because these are pretty generic products I don’t think one product is any ‘better’ than the other. I don’t eat baked beans, but on your other two examples I buy from the selection in front of me when I’m in a shop and I’ve run out. Toothpaste, I really don’t GAS and buy whatever is there usually based on price. I probably buy a different one every time. Deodorant – I’ll give it sniff and if it isn’t totally gopping, I’ll buy the cheapest – usually the own brand. BTW, I’ve no supermarket loyalty either.  In my small town we have Aldi, Tesco and Sainsbury – I use them all equally but where I do show a preference it’s because of price or fresh produce is of a better quality in one or the other.

Why on god’s earth would people have ‘brand loyalty’ for something as banal and generic as toothpaste?  That is one product which underlines to me how outlandish and hyperbolic advertising claims are. Same applies to many other things.  Do I have some brand preferences? Yes, for food products mostly because of taste preferences.  Were those preferences influenced by advertising the first time I tried them? Yes, probably I have to admit. But does advertising influence my choice of clothes, washing up liquid, butter, or a myriad of other common items? No.

Look – everyone on this thread has told me I’m deluding myself if I think I’m not affected by advertising and I accept that. It was meant to be a fairly light-hearted discussion and I expected to be challenged, which I was and that’s fair.  I think what I am trying to say is that yes, advertising works on me if success is measured in me becoming aware of some brands. But if it’s measured in me choosing to buy them, then I think in my case it’s success is very limited. Though not zero, I will concede!

Someone mentioned Coke and McDonalds before.  Of course I am aware of them and recognise their branding, but how has creating that awareness benefited them in my case if I never buy their products? I don’t like any fizzy sugary drinks and I only use chain fast food outlets once in a blue moon when I’m really stuck – and then it’s a case of whatever is available.

I actually prefer to buy non branded stuff where I can.

“Non branded” stuff is still branded.

Whereas I know you are unaware of what I do 🙂  It just seems beyond your ken

The reason you think it’s beyond my ken is the actual reason it’s beyond yours 🙂

I’ll admit you are less susceptible to advertising – but it’s not possible to be completely immune to its effects simply because you are a human being with eyes and a brain and you live in a city with other people.

I buy things for what they are

Yes, but unless you are aware of every single brand in the world and have rationally evaluated them all, you have to filter some of them out.  The set of brands of which you are aware is influenced by the advertising around you.  When you bought your bike, how many brands did you read up on?

has creating that awareness benefited them in my case if I never buy their products?

But you do buy products…

One of the most advertised things a few years ago was car insurance.  I’ve never consciously bought car insurance on the basis of an advert.  In fact, I just want to see the cheapest ones. If only there was a tool you could use to automatically compare prices and benefits for your car, that would take advertising out of the equation altogether.   So I use one of those. Which one?  Compare the Market. Now, how did I know about them and what their website does?  Simples!

When I get to the results, I am aware of horror stories from crappy cheap insurers being difficult, so I discount them from the list and go for reputable places because I don’t want to get done over. How do I know which ones are reputable? They’re the ones I’ve heard of.  How have I heard of them….??

How did you choose insurance for your motorbike?

Why on god’s earth would people have ‘brand loyalty’ for something as banal and generic as toothpaste?

Colgate owned (may be lapsed now) a clever patent on technology to hold antibacterial at the gum line. That was their Total brand. It was enough for me to be loyal and I don’t consider myself silly for it.

Must admit that Tango ad is the first one I’ve seen that uses the idea “xenophobia sells”.

It was immediately banned, having only been aired a handful of times,. So Tango played a blinder, getting loads and loads of press coverage, thus everyone was made aware of it and securing its place in advertising folklore, all with a minimum spend.

Like I said… genius!

The only way you could be completely immune is if you were deaf and blind from birth. Saying that, there’s probably some form of scent based advertising out there. It is everywhere and inescapable. You might not make a direct purchase due to it but claiming it doesn’t influence you at all is just silly.

When you bought your bike, how many brands did you read up on?

None.  I knew what I wanted.  I wanted a steel frame built locally.

Funkmaster – If you actually look I said “thus advertising has very little if any influence on them

Molgrips – no you simply do not understand how I live my life and how I make purchasing decisions because its not something you understand.  Thats obvious to me.  folk on here keep claiming I do things that I do not.  its rather amusing

Edukator – I went with Rohloff after a lot of discussinons on Tandem fora after breaking numerous other hubs and learning that Rohloff is the only hub that stands up to offroad tandem useage apart from a very rare, expensive and difficult to find chris king tandem special.  ie bought on function.  No advertising influenced my decision

Let’s take car insurance – how did you last buy car/house insurance? Did you use a comparison site? How did you pick the comparison site? Once on the site did you pick the cheapest or did you feel comfort for a name you knew that was £1 or £2 more expensive? Did you try going direct to any of the insurers that don’t operated through comparison sites? How would you even know they exist?

Well I do not own a car.  My house insurance was bought because of its bike cover after recommendations on here for its excellent bike coverage.  I have never used a comparison site, I went for the one with the best bike cover.  I did try comparing with a few others but could find nowt better.

My house insurance was bought because of its bike cover after recommendations on here for its excellent bike coverage.

That’s advertising right there. Others acted as brand ambassadors, whether willingly or not and you made a purchase based on that. I get where you’re coming from but you’re still susceptible. Living in the UK it’s impossible not to be. You’re special, just not as much as you think you are 😉

edit – strange double post shenanigans

Tj is actually a brand ambassador for certain Scottish companies…

🙂

Tandem fora

So somebody somewhere saw a Rohloff advert, bought one and started influencing. Without the succes of their advertising Rohloff would nave have become the company they have and th people who influenced you would never have heard of them. We were a fairly light pairing and good runners so limited the gearing (torque) and got off and pushed when it was steep enough and grippy enough to bust stuff

Now that steel frame. Why that brand? In fact why steel – influenced maybe, “steel is real”, have you got the T-shirt?

…and again…..what about the three houses that you have bought? Did you just knock on at random and ask to buy them?

has creating that awareness benefited them in my case if I never buy their products?

You’re aware that not all the advertising is aimed at you personally, right?

I think if your narrow definition is ‘show product-by product’, then pretty much everyone is the same, it’s not something that people pay attention to, but even if you don’t buy from them, if I posted a picture of different brands logos, you’d be able to recognise them, and that’s still advertising.

You’re aware that not all the advertising is aimed at you personally, right?

Of course I am.  I said that in response to comments about how others believe advertising affects me, not other people. In which context it’s appropriate to talk about my experience no?

 if I posted a picture of different brands logos, you’d be able to recognise them, and that’s still advertising.

I’ve addressed that point, made several times by others.  I don’t feel obliged to do it repeatedly.  I know what advertising is, I’m not claiming it doesn’t exist 🙂

…lets not forget tjagain fell for binners advertising charms* and commissioned a painting from him! 😀

(*and promise of a steak bake)

To be honest I seem to spend half my life doing self-promotion. I’m like a crap Apprentice candidate, with crayons instead of a business plan.

So on that note, should anyone be around East Lancs next weekend…

Whilst I don’t shop at Lidl, I do shop at Decathlon and I would consider a Quickstep floor. I might buy a Bora kitchen hood, and already have Hansgroh parts in the toilet cistern. I can’t use the Alpecin shampoo, nor Movistar mobile contracts, nor will I buy Deceuninck windows.  I’m not bothered about visiting the UAE, or Bahrain.

Here is absolutely no chance that I would want to own an Ineos Grenadier.

Some of the above sponsor teams for the love of cycling and have done so for generations. You may know the names and have some awareness of the products (think Sagan and extractor fans), it might cloud your judgement in a positive (or negative) way, but advertising works.

I saw the 2024 paralympics logo for the first time last night. What company do you people immediately think of ?

Now that steel frame. Why that brand? In fact why steel – influenced maybe,

Steel – so it can be repaired if I ever get to outer mongolia – easy to weld.  Shand?  Because they are local to me and create beautiful bikes and I could go for a full custom build

Once again folk are claiming I do stuff I simply do not.  Its amusing

I saw the 2024 paralympics logo for the first time last night. What company do you people immediately think of ?

First time for me. Nothing springs to mind, what am I missing? Is it supposed to be a stylised female face with the olympic flame doubling as a hair do?  As a stand alone logo I don’t think it’s great because I probably need someone to explain to me what it means.

But how did you know about Shand, TJ? How do other people know about Shand? How did Shand build their business?  When I started a business I knew I had to advertise, lots. I found that the best return on investment was flyers in letter boxes and the only way I could be sure that they were delivered rather than get dumped was to do it myself in a targetted way. Just as well I enjoy walking I did 80 000 over ten years.

The getting the thing repaired in outer Mongolia shows how you’ve been influenced. If something breaks in outer Mongolia it’s more likely to be a part of that horribly complicated Rohloff two cable gear shifter mech than the frame and good luck with finding parts for that in outer Mongolia. You’ve bought into a myth. 😉 I’d take a cheap aluminium-framed bike with 9speed and thumb shifters and treat the frame as an easily found and replaced component like any other. A 15-year old Decathlon mountain bike would be a good bet.

We’re smiling too BTW, I hope you’re taking this as good natured teasing. 🙂

First time for me. Nothing springs to mind, what am I missing? Is it supposed to be a stylised female face with the olympic flame doubling as a hair do?

+1

If that’s a flame then I guess it might be an oil or gas company (no idea which). Or is it L’Oreal (the first women’s hair products company that came to mind)?

I didn’t see you that similarity until you pointed it out. I was more focused on the floating head thingy.

As to the tv advertising debate……….Growing up as a kid in the late 70’s/80’s we only had a tv that could get BBC (sometimes, only if the planets aligned and the aerial on the hill hadn’t been blown over) as I stayed in a very isolated area of argyll and as such never saw adverts but when visiting family members and watching STV I was amazed at the amount of ”stuff” out there that was available and why didn’t my family have it?, I wanted frosted flakes, I wanted trio biscuits. But we did have music, mum and dad were always playing their records.

On growing up as a teenager in mid 80’s we moved to Dalavich Argyll (just as isolated) and could only get occasional tv and I wasn’t bothered about it as I had my moto-x bike, fishing/boating in the loch etc which kept me occupied as I loved being outdoors. But I did have music, my first Walkman in 1983, followed by my first boombox.

Cut to adulthood and I’ve never owned a tv, nor ever had one in my house, I do have Netflix/Apple TV etc but I much…much prefer to listen to music – as evidenced by the only chair in my living room in the sweet spot between my speakers, to see the banality and utterly patronising adverts on tv now (when I visit my mum across town) just gets my hackles up, they seem to treat the viewer like idiots.

Always sorta lived paycheck to paycheck or disability payment to disability payment so I can say I’m not that influenced by adverts …I’ve never had the money/disposable ££ to buy shite I don’t need as I’ve been perfectly happy living with what I’ve got/not got but I’ve always had nice bikes even as a kid from the original muddy fox explorer as a 13yr old so that carried on through to adulthood – I’ve never had the need to buy “stuff” to inflate my mood, I did have a GF years ago who’s only passion was going shopping at weekends, or looking through magazines whilst making lists of stuff she wanted to buy……I couldn’t understand her as most of the stuff was just hung up never to be worn so that relationship fizzled out as shopping/buying shit was her only hobby despite many attempts at introducing her to the Galloway hills (she hated getting wet, muddy, cold, flies etc).

Moved in to my tiny bungalow 30 years ago aged 21, went shopping for carpets, and furniture……….couldn’t decide so left it for another day….lived with my hifi, 3 bean bags and a coffee table from mum/dad for many years……..29 years later still not bought carpets nor decorated bedroom/hallway so they’re still bare walls, guess I’m not a good consumer….or just lazy 😉

Why does text **** up on this forum?

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

How did the purchasing go with your style reinvention which you started a thread about?…

Those three house purchases will remain a mystery I guess….

Those three house purchases will remain a mystery I guess….

One from a for sale board.  One was a rental I was living in and asked to buy,  The third owned by the same landlord.  One advert for the 3 houses.

However all the for sale board did was tell me it was available.  I did not buy it because it was advertised, I bought it because I knew the house and the street and wanted to buy on that street – so any house for sale on that street I would have bought.

The advert did not affect my decision to buy – only told me it was available.  A subtle but important difference.  The content of the Ad meant nothing to me as I knew the property.