Marketing the Truth

Some people say you cannot predict the future others spend their lives trying to do just that, be it stocks and shares, futurists or crystal ball seers. Anticipating the market whatever that may be from a marketing point of view two elements need to be considered.

The first is to understand that most of our past is fabricated in that it was created by those who had the greatest access to mass media. It does not follow what was told as fact is necessarily truth. History although I admit I am playing with words here is just that “His-Story” written by the winners and bias to say the least.

In terms of marketing campaigns it has long been know within the industry itself that PR, Viral and other less publicly known avenues of communication alter public opinion. This opinion then ferments in the minds of the public to become fact in very little time.

Can we predict the future? Not really but we can invent it just like we have the past on many occasions. As an example of the power of mass suggestion (education) one only has to look at one truth of the 19th century. Contrary to popular belief Edison does NOT hold the record for the most inventions. He may have applied for the most patents but many were not his. Yet Tesla the man who should have that distinction is almost never mentioned in the schools and universities as a pioneer. Don’t sit there and disagree with that last statement GO AND CHECK! FOR YOURSELF!

Another fine example is the Ten Commandments and yes I am aware that this may cause consternation amongst the religious zealots who would sacrifice truth for faith but again you don’t have to look too far for the historical TRUTH.

The Egyptian book of the dead written some 2,000 years before Moses got his orders contains those same rules almost verbatim and is known in archaeological circles as spell 125 in the Egyptian book of the dead.

What has all this got to do with modern marketing methods?

Well it shows clearly that without the aid of mass media and global communications our ancestors knew a thing or two about how to crate a good campaign. The source must seem to be trustworthy and beyond question.

Back to inventing the future which in all honesty is much easier than trying to predict it we have to look closer at the source. Where do we believe the information is coming from and how do we persuade the public to take that information on face value in order to promote our goals?

Well it is surprisingly easy once you know how the public tends to process information in a fast paced lifestyle. First we need to get ourselves an “expert” and depending on what it is you’re selling be it a product, service or more powerfully an IDEA you will have found the home of your expert.

Second you need to place that expert in a trusted medium be it TV, print, radio, internet or word of mouth or a combination of all the above. The mix of the media is as important as the person (expert) giving the message and all this comes before the message itself.

Viral marketing is a fine example of swaying public opinion or simply gaining brand awareness by word of mouth or a few well targeted words in an appropriate media outlet such as “letters to the editor” in a professional magazine or national paper.

It could take the form of a game or set of images sent around the Internet as a joke, news or an appeal. Nothing is off limits when it comes to promoting the product, brand, service, person or opinion this also include the so called “leaks” of information so regularly berated by governments who usually wish to “test public opinion” without a debate.

So you have your expert you have the correct mix of media and you have your message. In amongst all this there is a subtle ambiguity…our idea of what an expert actually is. Dependant on what the message and the medium is this expert could be anything from a university professor (usually used to sell a new drug by fear based marketing of the problem be it a real problem or not) or and this is a strange one…a magazine editor that is selling you a cosmetic product since s/he is good at editing?

I may sound like I am knocking the world of persuasion and in some respects I am but I am not against marketing the truth. The “pandemic” we were all subjected to last year concerning bird flu upped the share price of several international drug companies and left many people with nothing but panic in their hearts. This is where I draw the line in marketing without correct investigation, it is sensationalism to sell newspapers and drugs that have no effect on flu at the expense of the publics sanity and taxpayers pocket.

There can be such a thing a moral marketing there can be truth and commercial gains if we focus on a win win situation from the start. The casualty of all this is truth and the respect of a public growing ever sick of the lies and fear based tactics used by many multinationals.

Should we not attempt to regain (maybe we never had it?) truth and respect in our messages to the public? Could we not think a little more about the long-term effects us as marketers have on the minds of adults and children? We have a responsibility as professional persuaders to understand we have the power to form opinions.

We know the public is more often than not too busy to check the credentials of so called experts and the validity of our massage. So it falls to us to break with years of tradition and wonder what our world would be like if the public were given the credit for forming an opinion based on truth given to them in such a way they need not question its validity. As a wise man once said “Truth needs no explanation” if that be true how much would you save on your next campaign?



Marketing the Truth - To learn more about this author, visit Jason Rife's Website.

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