Sex Sells

When was the last time you saw a woman portrayed as a whole person? By whole person, I mean a complete, autonomous human being—not the archetypal damsel in distress, sexual object, etc. More often than not I see women portrayed as pieces. I’ll see eyes, lips, hips, breasts, or legs in isolation. What kind of message is this sending us?

When we look at a woman as disembodied pieces, we don’t equate her to a whole person. When we don’t see them as complete people, it becomes easier to objectify them, which can lead to all sorts of negative behaviors. As consumers, we need to become more aware of the roles that various forms of media affect our perception of people, and demand advertising and business practices that promote fairness and human rights. CEO’s respond most immediately to changes in consumer demands. As businesses, we need to respond to the growing body of knowledge at our disposal. Fostering a sense of shame, hatred, and objectification will not be a sustainable business practice as we move forward. Developing a community of stakeholders (not only shareholders) will.

Video: Truth In Advertising

Here’s another funny video.

DISCLAIMER: There is adult language in this video. Just to let you know. I’ll be back tomorrow with some more marketing insights.

Video: Redesigning The Stop Sign

I know this is a little old, but a friend of mine recently sent the link for this video to me. I love parodies of advertising agencies, and I can tell you from experience, this isn’t too far from the truth. Let me know what you think. Have a good weekend.

Broken Windows, Broken Business

Marketing is not designed to cover up problems inherent in a business. As a marketer, I am often asked how to make a product or service sound better than it is so people will buy it. Why should I make something sound better than it is? People hate to be deceived. The first thing I ask is what can be done to make the product be better, not sound better. Today, people have options. If you don't want to run Windows, get a Mac. If you don't like the new "Apple", use a distribution of linux. If you don't provide the product or service the end user wants, somebody else will. In cases you have a product that somebody needs, but they either don't want it or understand why it's important (e.g. life insurance) the first thing that you need to do is build  a superior product and then educate your target market on the benefits of the service.

A weak product is the worst marketing and PR you can have, well, next to horrible customer service. Whether your product is, focus on making the best quality product possible with the end user in mind. Word of mouth advertising is much more effective than anything you can pay for. Once you have a product that you full ystand behind, ask me how we can work to get the word out.