Comments on: Noise http://cultureby.com/2007/03/noise.html This Blog Sits At the Intersection of Anthropology and Economics Wed, 23 May 2012 20:18:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: laurie Rosenwald http://cultureby.com/2007/03/noise.html/comment-page-1#comment-3243 laurie Rosenwald Tue, 13 Mar 2007 16:07:46 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=521#comment-3243 i meant to do that! i meant to do that!

]]> By: steve http://cultureby.com/2007/03/noise.html/comment-page-1#comment-3242 steve Wed, 07 Mar 2007 19:56:16 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=521#comment-3242 I think clarity is becoming more important for consumer brands as the envirionment becomes more cluttered and attention and memory more scarce. Even GEICO, with its multiple ad campaigns, has hammered home its true brand identity--"Fifteen minutes can save you $500 on your car insurance" and we're for smart people with a good sense of humor. Or look at AFLAAC, which used one of the clearest and most successful awareness campaigns I can remember to pin down exactly what it does and why you should pay for it. In a world where we are constantly being bombarded by stimuli, with everyone tugging at our sleeves for our attention, such clarity and memorability is extremely valuable. Vague brands are hard to remember, and the reason why you're supposed to pay for them is hard to remember. It's not as bad a problem with a product that has a distinctive appearance, like a car, because potential buyers may just remember what it looks like even if the meanings and functions associated with it get noisy. But for anything without such a sensory hook, I would not advise deliberately generating noise around its basic value proposition, whether tha proposiition be function, appearance, or meaning/identity enhancement. I think clarity is becoming more important for consumer brands as the envirionment becomes more cluttered and attention and memory more scarce. Even GEICO, with its multiple ad campaigns, has hammered home its true brand identity–”Fifteen minutes can save you $500 on your car insurance” and we’re for smart people with a good sense of humor. Or look at AFLAAC, which used one of the clearest and most successful awareness campaigns I can remember to pin down exactly what it does and why you should pay for it. In a world where we are constantly being bombarded by stimuli, with everyone tugging at our sleeves for our attention, such clarity and memorability is extremely valuable.

Vague brands are hard to remember, and the reason why you’re supposed to pay for them is hard to remember. It’s not as bad a problem with a product that has a distinctive appearance, like a car, because potential buyers may just remember what it looks like even if the meanings and functions associated with it get noisy. But for anything without such a sensory hook, I would not advise deliberately generating noise around its basic value proposition, whether tha proposiition be function, appearance, or meaning/identity enhancement.

]]> By: weaverluke http://cultureby.com/2007/03/noise.html/comment-page-1#comment-3241 weaverluke Wed, 07 Mar 2007 03:46:22 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=521#comment-3241 "[S]ome of the most interesting people these days are hybrids." Surely us self-conscious humans have always been complex and multi-faceted, at least to the extent that our cultural and social environment is rich and varied? Whether, where and when we *perform* that complexity is another question. To show what is inside is a vunerable, risky business. Our complexity may or may not be esteemed by particular others; quite naturally, we may or may not allow those others to witness it. The constant interplay between our Inner and Outer selves is patterned by our evolving culture. In a way, then, culture can be understood in this context as "performance practice" for our mysteriously and ultimately unknowable selves. “[S]ome of the most interesting people these days are hybrids.”

Surely us self-conscious humans have always been complex and multi-faceted, at least to the extent that our cultural and social environment is rich and varied?

Whether, where and when we *perform* that complexity is another question. To show what is inside is a vunerable, risky business. Our complexity may or may not be esteemed by particular others; quite naturally, we may or may not allow those others to witness it.

The constant interplay between our Inner and Outer selves is patterned by our evolving culture. In a way, then, culture can be understood in this context as “performance practice” for our mysteriously and ultimately unknowable selves.

]]> By: Vincent LaConte http://cultureby.com/2007/03/noise.html/comment-page-1#comment-3240 Vincent LaConte Wed, 07 Mar 2007 01:06:22 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=521#comment-3240 Very provocative post, to someone trained in information design, where the mantra is, "reduce noise between sender and receiver". But are we talking about the same kind of noise, really? There's noise: unintended disruption of message by forces outside our control, vs. noise: intentional fuzziness or twisting of the message to actually reinforce it. Maybe noise is the wrong word? Very provocative post, to someone trained in information design, where the mantra is, “reduce noise between sender and receiver”. But are we talking about the same kind of noise, really? There’s noise: unintended disruption of message by forces outside our control, vs. noise: intentional fuzziness or twisting of the message to actually reinforce it. Maybe noise is the wrong word?

]]>