The Persuaders Analysis

Frontline’s “The Persuaders” is more than a simple documentary on advertising in America, it is a look into the ever-evolving culture of consumerism that America has created. Marketers have evolved and changed the way they communicate with their customers in order to try to push through the “clutter” that “The Persuaders” talked a lot about.

The first company that the documentary looking into deeply was Song which I had never heard of before. Song’s marketing team took a much different approach then what most people have traditionally thought marketers do.

They brought in people from outside of the airline business and took a much more abstract look at the way they handle marketing. Song tried to market the soul of the company. I had never heard it put into words like that, but I immediately recognized it in many other ads and saw the trend.

Instead of talking directly about the product the advertisers try to create a story or something close to a piece of art. This kind of content marketing is so different from what we used to have. It targets our emotions instead of reason.

A great ad that went viral and appealed more toward emotion is an Extra Gum ad about two high schoolers who fall in love.

Emotional Advertising

With this appeal to emotions comes a whole set of ethical dilemma. Whether it is the brands or the consumers that is pushing this, people are finding their identity, meaning and belonging in brands. Ads only help them find that need.

In many ways it has become cultish. This can become dangerous especially for Christians.

I do like the sense of belonging that I can find with other owners of similar products. In the case of video games I can talk to others who have the same console about the games that we play or games that we recommend to each other. There is a kind of bonding that can happen over shared experiences like that.

On the other hand, people become addicted to brands in a materialistic way. Some people have to have the new iPhone whenever it comes out and will spend tons of money to get it. This is not necessarily proper stewardship of our money.

Christians need to make sure that they do not become materialistic or become so attached to brands that they will buy it above reason.

Christian’s in Marketing

Not only do Christians need to be cautious of their spending, but Christians in marketing need to watch how they do advertising.

Emotional branding is a powerful tool that can be abused. There is a place for emotional branding and encouraging brand loyalty is not bad in a general sense, but there are a few areas in marketing that are wrong for Christians:

• Deceit: Often advertisers do not openly deceive their customers, but it is still a tough line
• Encouraging Debt: Advertisers can encourage consumers to go into debt to continue to buy their products
• Loyalty Beyond Reason: Sometimes marketing can cause people to blindly buy products without thinking about the implications
• Worship of Products: Marketing can move into creating materialism and belief that the products take care of a consumers needs
• Immoral Products: This is obvious, but marketing is still done for these products

Marketers cannot control what their consumers will do, but they can avoid these areas of marketing. They should be devoted to the truth above all else.

Christ should also fill the gap in our life not brands. Christians do not need to necessarily explicitly promote Christ as a way to fill the gap, yet at the same time they should not use emotional marketing to promote their brand as a way to fill the gap.

Overall Christians should try to bring a Biblical perspective to the marketing field and testing all of their ideas through a Biblical lens. They can still be strategic and profitable while fulfilling their duty to God and remaining blameless.

Personal Marketing

Unfortunately, not all marketers are Christians and our culture is a main contributor to the promotion of materialism and blind loyalty in a products or causes.

Many companies are moving toward more personal ads that are tailored to individuals. The internet is a big part of this movement. The biggest area that The Persuaders talked about with personal marketing is in politics. Though many don’t think about it, political candidates and parties are marketed too just like products.

The documentary specifically looked at the 2004 election in which ads were made specifically to target different demographics. Now in 2016 this is happening to a much larger degree and marketing is huge.

One of the big problems they talked about was how this kind of personal marketing in politics can be polarizing. Our country is divided now more than it has been in years and it is destroying bipartisanism in America. Emotional marketing plays a big role in this too.

We need to make sure that our desire to market to specific groups does not accentuate divides and does not play on the fears of the people.

Christian’s Role in Culture

Christians have a role to play in combating this type of marketing too. Emotional marketing and personal marketing are good things and they have revolutionized the advertising industry in a positive way. They can both be used unethically though.

The Christian’s message is one of love and a Christian culture does not take advantage of others or create divide. If these are applied to ethics in culture and marketing then companies will stop marketing in wrongful ways. It is up to Christians to be involved with culture and have a positive impact instead of shying away.

On my honor, I have watched The Persuaders in its entirety.