Friday, 13 November 2015

Rory Sutherland: Life lessons from an ad man, review.


Hi guys,


Today’s post is all about Rory Sutterland and his stance on advertising and how we live our lives.


I really enjoyed this take on advertising with regards to perception and reality. A lot of advertising, marketing and PR is smoke and mirrors taking an ordinary idea and making it extraordinary.  Intangible value in advertising is seen in a bad way. Persuasion is better than compulsion, as no one really likes being compelled to do something whereas if you persuade them it is a different thing


People behaviour is key in advertising Rory showed this by giving the example of when Frederick the great of Prussia wanted the Russians to eat wheat and potatoes to stop famine and bring in a new source of food. The people’s behaviour was negative and to combat this he to make it compulsive but that also failed. He then looked to marketing potatoes a royal vegetable that were only for royal consumption. This as well as false Prussian guarding of potatoes, the Russian peasants now wanted potatoes as they seen anything that was worth guarding was worth something. Because of this the Russian peasants started eating potatoes when in reality it was the same product they were offered a time before it.


I liked how he mentioned Andy Warhol’s stance on coke, who thinks it’s great that the president and the person on the street drinks the same coke. Proving that all advertising does is change the way we look at a product but the product itself stays the same.


I found Rory Sutherland extremely easy to listen to as he brought a comedic value to the majority of what he was saying. This kept me entertained as well as alert because it was enjoyable. I appreciated the fact that he had interesting examples to back up the main points he was making which made it engaging and entertaining. 


Though I enjoyed the peace as a whole I especially liked how he ended saying we should appreciate the little things in life and those things we already have. We should put value on love, health and family rather than material things because are the things that make us truly wealthy.


Clara




See video here;



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