Can We Tell the Truth?
Advertising is the media that is responsible for getting you attention and increasing sales. The techniques in use today have been developing for easily over a millennia however. Before bill boards and pop-ups, busy city squares called markets could be found in every city where people displayed their wares and trade, each filling the air with shouts of their guarantees and expert craftsmanship, vying for customer’s attention.
Today we are exposed to thousands of subtle advertisements that are injected into our social media, cereal boxes, clothing and television that barely scratch the surface of our consciousness. Yet we fail thousands of times a day to deal with them consciously. How much of advertising is the mind actually capable of handling?
If we start by looking at the little bit of advertising we do consider, we end of looking at things where the media or source of information is being successful. This is largely due to what Public Relations calls Dialogic Theory.
Dialogic Theory is a form of two-way communication or dialogue that is used to try and win people to a particular point of view or a favorable image. It is rooted in philosophy, psychology and rhetoric, but functions as an exchange without manipulation.
It has five characteristics, mutuality, propinquity, empathy, risk and commitment. Each corresponds to meeting a need in the exchange of ideas and forms a pillar that offers a framework for a highly ethical method for public relations. But frequently, when the public engages in dialogic relations, they are at risk, even more susceptible to manipulation and being exploited.
Often what gets attributed to this type of dilemma arises from a style of thinking called Machiavellianism, which emerged around the turn of the century in 1500, started in Italy. A teacher, named Niccolo Machiavelli was involved in the courts in Italy and acquired notoriety and power as a political adviser and thus, as power behind the throne, was able to influence decisions politically without being royalty. His teachings were compiled in several works before he died. One of them, titled The Prince is a book he wrote after a lengthy prison sentence where he suffered torture and being set free, spilled his anger into its pages, “The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous. Therefore if a prince wants to maintain his rule he must learn how not to be virtuous, and to make use of this or not according to need.”
Frequently, it is easy to perceive Public Relations as a simple gold or coal mine, a simple job or work that needs to be done to accomplish the ultimate goal: sales. This approach, no matter how much theory it is subject to will dysfunction ethically as long as relationship is not the focus of the exchange. It’s very easy, common in fact to be stuck thinking that business is the justification for what is necessary to garner profit, when what benefits the public is ready to take the spotlight.
Finding companies that reflect this kind of approach, emphasizing the need to develop consumer relations are rare, but contrary to the manipulative Machiavellian line of thinking, they have a fighting chance. Dialogic theory is not a guarantee of a wholesome relationship; it is a promise of exchange. However the way that it is used is what determines its potential as a platform.
