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Brandwashed

My Consumer Insights professor, Dr. Michelle Weinberger, recommended that we read Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy, written by Martin Lindstrom, author of Buy•ology. I expect to receive my copy today :).

Ivana Taylor, author and book critic, gives reasons to why you should read this book: “In Brandwashed, Lindstrom continues to share backdoor branding habits, and that’s what makes it so much fun to read. Even though I’m aware that companies go to incredible lengths to influence our purchases, I was blown away by just how creative they got.

Marketers and business owners will benefit from the plethora of stories and secrets that Lindstrom shares. The challenge for most of us will be to create ways to use this information in a way that endears us to our customers, as well as alert us to the fact that most marketers are playing to our weakness.

For example, in the “I Can’t Quit You” chapter, Lindstrom reveals that market executives at Coca Cola have a confidential model for how many bubbles they should feature in their print ads to generate a “craving” response. This may sound absurd to you, but mega brands whose profitability hinges on mere percentage points wouldn’t be studying this if it didn’t work. It made me realize that most of us don’t understand human motivation and how to apply those triggers to our own products and services.

You may not get any revolutionary ideas from Brandwashed. But you will get enough entertaining and educational tidbits to make you the life of any networking event or cocktail party.”

Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals. - David Ogilvy