Comments on: Marketing’s Great Chain of Being?

By: srp

srp — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 21:23:41 +0000

Meanings are tied to identity. Identities vary across people. Some identities are uninterested in the meanings of a given product category but are very interested in others. Other identities rebel at the idea of consuming meanings promoted by people trying to sell them things. Still other identities pride themselves on ignoring all but considerations of utility. The trick is figuring out what the population of identities looks like in your product category and then understanding how given marketing moves will either attract or antagonize each identity type. Probably there will be some tradeoffs, because fuzzing up the meaning to cover everyone will weaken the pull and cause a descent down the chain of being. If you can’t fuzz too much, you have to antagonize or leave cold some elements of the population in order to appeal to others.

Don’t kid yourself, though–superior utility is still a killer argument. The iPod is gorgeous and easy to use and has a huge set of compelementary hardware and software. Its rivals aren’t and don’t.

By: pnautilus

pnautilus — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:30:05 +0000

Yes. And I don’t mean maybe. Pick any industry and you will see the Saints, the men, and the animals. Success lies in one extreme or the other. You either offer an experience that pulls your earthly commodities into the realm of the heavenly, or you slog down into the pits to duke it out with Walmart. The problem now is that work-a-day marketers are promising heaven to too many companies, and delivering what amounts to little more than expensive noise.

By: Fabrizio

Fabrizio — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 06:34:42 +0000

There is a growing interest, in marketing and design, about the emotional and experiential side of consumption, with books such as Norman’s “Emotional Design” of Gobé “Emotional Branding” on the top list. The shift from use to meaning in marketing dates back to the good old days of semiotics; here in Italy we were all caught up by Semprini’s works on the symbolic role of brands, but the tools used to generate and manage this “competition of meanings” remained the traditional 4 ps reducing the mangerial impact of this shift.

In terms of the hotel example, the card explains how to use conventional products (still the 4 ps at work) though reducing the value of a seamless customer experience that, I assume, might not need explainations or rules of conduct but might flow freely thanks to the look and feel of objects and enviroments that surround the user. In this sense, marketing is still lacking of a strong set of tools to enable customers to go through very personal experiences and is still very focused on the promotion of ordinary, functional products, through some emotional communication. In other words, selling experiences is a completely different ball game from selling products through emotional communication, don’t you think so??

By: jen_chan, writer SureFireWealth.com

jen_chan, writer SureFireWealth.com — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 11:34:44 +0000

The card was a brilliant touch. To find something that seems personally created for you never fails to impress. But I’m much more intrigued with this so-called chain of being. The idea is really interesting and it makes one wonder which side we are sliding to these days. Could there be a great chain in the marketing world? Honestly, I think there is something like that going on though not everything is in black and white after all.

By: jkh

jkh — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 08:50:07 +0000

as i have been asked, here is a little more on schulze’s “aesthetic of arrival”
(first of all – it is not a thought that he elaborates in his last book but in “die beste aller welten” (the best of all worlds) 2003)
where in most of the 20th century we lived in culture of linear progress in the 21st century this predominant drive forward (faster, higher, further) gets a new companion. and this is ‘a culture of arrival’. — where does that notion of arrival come from? – to schulze it lies in the new possibilities of the individualized society. linear progress of modernism has lost its halo (he of course wrote about this already in depth in the ‘erlebnisgesellschaft’ – ‘experience society’ (1992)) and now instead of society as a whole following one paradigm we have many more possible and legitimate options for the individual. – this now brings ‘arrival’ as a strong second theme onto the agenda.

whereas the 20th century was about progressing and leaving behind – the 21st century is about progressing and arriving at the same time.

culture – and cultural progress – does not get slower, but it gets essentially ‘wider’ and ‘broader’ – and integrates ‘halt’, ‘reflection’ and ‘self-awareness’ – all things that in the last century were for wimps only – as normal and desirable aspects into almost everybody’s everyday life.
schulze says that this naturally will change marketing, advertising and product design significantly.
he also says that a trend towards simplistic design can be read as an aspect of this ‘culture of arrival’.

schulze however does not use the term ‘aesthetic of arrival’ – that like all the rest of the above is pure hilgenstock – nor does he elaborate on apple or the ipod especially.

he says though that integrating both aspects “arrival” + “progress” at the same time will be the predominant challenge in 21st century consumption and marketing.

—
unfortunately schulze’s books – with the exception of the ‘erlbnisgesellchaft’ are not available in english. – but hey, as in the 1970 and 1980 all german books on marketing and management were basically copied from the us-american originals, i would see absolutely no problem in turning this brain train around and pick some pearls of schulze and others. – and i guess that is also what Pine, Joseph and James Gilmore. 1999. The Experience Economy. have done in parts too.

personally i would possibly be open for co-operations like this.

By: jkh

jkh — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 08:49:23 +0000

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By: jkh

jkh — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 12:15:41 +0000

p.s.
which means undoubtedly that life in a hotel is perfect. here everything is being replaced and refilled by invisible hands. – no waste, no traces of yesterday ever to be seen.

a brand new life. just like the old one. only brand new.

here is to the blessings of rituals.

By: jkh

jkh — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 11:50:50 +0000

which of course also means that the only problem we have when buying a new ipod or new mobile phone which basically is what to do with the old one, that basically looked and felt much the same.

our ever growing personal graveyards of old ipods, mobiles and laptops are the only thing that is of little sophistication in this equation.

maybe jobs should next work on how to dematerialize the old product the minute we purchase the new one. – because shopping we want!

the meditative loop of consumption would be perfect.

By: jkh

jkh — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 11:25:48 +0000

so the apple success formula would actually be: “selling arrival again and again”. – culture in quite a meditative loop in fact.

no wonder they over the years now actually get away without drastic changes in design.

By: jkh

jkh — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 11:16:05 +0000

that by the way is also why he says the simplistic and zen-like apple design is such a success.

design wise apple’s products are products of arrival and contemplation – no matter how ridiculously the company has speeded up their innovation cycles.