Today, a lecture that’s funny and a bit geeky around the edges. In this talk, adman Rory Sutherland tells a series of funny anecdotes about history, advertising, and the perception of value. That may not sound entertaining, but it really is — it’s a rollicking good time, and it’s really smart stuff, without going over anyone’s head. Alternating between historical examples and modern ones, Sutherland pokes fun at trends (for example, calling a shared plate of pub fries “Food 2.0″), but eventually gets to the heart of his point: advertising is largely concerned with creating intangible value, which actually is valuable, despite being highly notional. Further, intangible value (and thus enjoyment, or a sense of wealth) can be found in things you already have — you just have to look for it.
The most hilarious part of this talk comes around the 13-minute mark, when Sutherland shows focus group footage of people eating Shreddies, a square Chex-like cereal that was in the process of being rebranded by rotating it 45 degrees to make “diamonds.” Wonderful.
Topics: how to improve train travel with booze and models, placebo education, rebranding the potato, veiled prostitutes, smiling street signs, Prussian high-value iron jewelry, Warhol on Coke, the portability of food, contextual alcoholic drinks, a button to save money, rebranding Shreddies, and the nature of poetry.
For: students of history, and people who enjoy funny anecdotes.
Representative Quote: “Every country has a contextual alcoholic drink. In France it’s Pernod: it tastes great within the borders of that country, but absolute shite if you take it anywhere else.”
Further Reading and Viewing
Sutherland also gave a TED Talk called Sweat the Small Stuff, which is well worth a look; there’s also a TED Q&A which contains some delightful profanity. He also has a book out, though actually purchasing it seems a bit tricky.
Transcript
TED provides an interactive transcript, as well as subtitles, downloads with subtitles, and so on. I watched this talk on the TED site via the “Download” button (which basically just leads to a much better-looking video).
Suggest a Lecture
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I’m a little surprised about the squares to diamonds thing if it is real (I didn’t see the video, but will definitely try to later).
Advertising psychologists have known since the 1930s that there should not be a square on packaging, and even today you don’t see it often.
posted by Wayne Stevens on 1-17-2012 at 11:12 am
The square to diamonds thing was for Shreddies, a pretty tasty breakfast cereal that happens to be square in shape. The fact that Shreddies are square wasn’t exactly ever advertised but as a funny campaign they rebranded Shreddies as diamond. They did taste tests on the streets and everyone played along and said the diamond Shreddies were tastier. It was all in good fun and I’m pretty sure I bought a few boxes during the rebranding because I quite liked the cheekiness of it all. In fact I could go for a bowl right now. Watch the video, it’s neat!
posted by Heathermca on 1-17-2012 at 11:28 pm