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Douglas Rushkoff takes an in-depth look at the "persuasion industries" of advertising and public relations, and how marketers have developed new ways of deciphering and creating marketing messages that resonate with and influence Americans.

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00:00Music
00:16It's everywhere you look.
00:18You cannot walk down the street without being bombarded.
00:20They call it a clutter crisis.
00:22Consumers are like roaches.
00:24You spray them and spray them and after a while it doesn't work anymore.
00:27We develop immunities.
00:28And the multi-billion dollar advertising industry is in a desperate struggle to break through.
00:33We don't just come forward with what we want to sell.
00:36We engage you with things that you want.
00:38Advertisers have blurred the line between programming and product.
00:42It's advertising that people not only will tolerate, but will actually go in search of.
00:47The way God and Madison Avenue intended.
00:50But how is advertising affecting our lives and the world around us?
00:54Once a culture becomes entirely advertising friendly, it ceases to be a culture at all.
01:00Tonight on Frontline.
01:02I'm sure people ask me this all the time.
01:04What about the environment?
01:05Correspondent Douglas Rushkoff takes you inside the changing world of The Persuaders.
01:10The Persuaders.
01:11The Persuaders.
01:12The Persuaders.
01:14The Persuaders.
01:15The Persuaders.
01:16The Persuaders.
01:17The Persuaders.
01:18The Persuaders.
01:19The Persuaders.
01:20The Persuaders.
01:21The Persuaders.
01:22The Persuaders.
01:23The Persuaders.
01:24The Persuaders.
01:25The Persuaders.
01:26The Persuaders.
01:27The Persuaders.
01:28The Persuaders.
01:29The Persuaders.
01:30The Persuaders.
01:31The Persuaders.
01:32The Persuaders.
01:33The Persuaders.
01:34The Persuaders.
01:35A spring night in New York City.
01:52Two men hunt for just the right building.
01:58We're always looking for a new wall to kind of do our thing on.
02:01They may not look it, but these guys are preparing a guerrilla operation.
02:07Trying to just scope out for a good location and wherever we end up, we end up.
02:14This is where we're going, the construction center, right here.
02:18At last they find the building they've been looking for.
02:20What's this covert mission all about?
02:35It's a new kind of urban warfare.
02:38A sneaker company's all-out battle for our attention.
02:41You cannot walk down the street without being bombarded.
02:48You stand in an elevator looking at advertising in the corner of the elevator car.
02:53And you go to play golf and you go to pick the ball up out of the cup.
02:57And there's an ad in the bottom of it.
02:58And you look up at the sky and there's skywriting.
03:00And you look at a bus passing and there's advertising.
03:02And you walk in Times Square and you go,
03:04Is this Las Vegas on the Hudson?
03:06Am I trapped inside a pinball machine?
03:09Welcome to the new American metropolis.
03:12Somewhere beneath all these ads is the city I grew up in.
03:16But over the last 20 years, it's grown a second skin.
03:19A twinkling membrane of commercial messages.
03:28Advertisers have become prospectors for new space
03:30in an ever more crowded landscape.
03:32Even a subway tunnel becomes the backdrop
03:35for an American Express promotion.
03:40But advertisers have a big problem.
03:42The more messages they create,
03:44the more they have to create to reach us.
03:47It's led to a vicious circle of clutter.
03:50They are the ones who make clutter.
03:53They are therefore also the ones
03:55who are always trying desperately to break through the clutter.
03:58That's the line you always hear in ad agencies.
04:00We can break through the clutter with this.
04:02Well, every effort to break through the clutter
04:04is just more clutter.
04:07I have a quote in my book from an advertising executive
04:09who says consumers are like roaches.
04:11You spray them and spray them,
04:13and after a while it doesn't work anymore.
04:15We develop immunities.
04:18So what's an advertiser supposed to do?
04:20Stop advertising?
04:22That's the one thing they know they can't do.
04:24Because the moment they stop trying to persuade us,
04:26we forget about them.
04:28Once you're in the game, you can't stop.
04:31If for no other reason
04:32that the competition will eat you alive.
04:38What advertising has always wanted to do
04:41is not simply to suffuse the atmosphere,
04:44but to become the atmosphere.
04:45It wants us not to be able to find a way
04:50outside of the world that it creates for us.
04:55So this is the way our world fills up with advertising.
04:59For years, I've been studying and writing
05:01about what I call the persuasion industry.
05:04I've even worked in it.
05:05But I still can't say for sure where all this is headed.
05:08Where will the advertising arms race lead?
05:13To a world made of marketing?
05:15And what would that mean for us?
05:19I set out on a tour
05:21through the modern machinery of selling
05:22to meet some of the persuaders up close.
05:26My first stop?
05:28A downtown New York storefront.
05:32I come and join you, baby.
05:34I'm not singing.
05:35I've been invited to a hit party.
05:41Or something that looks like one.
05:45What this really is,
05:46is the opening salvo in a marketing blitz
05:48for a new airline.
05:52They call themselves Song.
05:56Song is a subsidiary of Delta Airlines.
05:59But you won't find any mention of Delta here.
06:02Delta is old-fashioned air travel.
06:04And Song is their way of persuading us
06:06that they can compete
06:07with hip, low-cost carriers like JetBlue.
06:12A lot of people ask us,
06:13you've got to be crazy.
06:14You're starting an airline
06:15in the worst environment in the U.S.,
06:16in the history of U.S.
06:17at commercial aviation.
06:18And we were, and we are.
06:19That process gets more and more complex.
06:21Delta broke off a team of their best marketers
06:23and told them to start from scratch.
06:25The first thing the Song team decided
06:30was that it wasn't enough just to launch a new airline.
06:33To get our attention,
06:34they had to invent a new culture around flying.
06:37Which is to sort of capture consumers' imagination.
06:40But how do you do that?
06:42Talk to me a little bit about
06:43why you chose the things you did.
06:45Song started with a trusted tool,
06:48the focus group.
06:48The homework was choose images, words,
06:52things that capture what might be
06:54your ideal experience of traveling by air.
06:56Before long, Song's research yielded a nugget.
07:00There was a large group of flyers
07:01whose needs and desires were being ignored.
07:04Women.
07:04The food, I think they could improve a lot.
07:07The Song team created a detailed profile
07:09of their target consumer.
07:11And even gave her a name.
07:13Carrie.
07:13She's got three children, a husband.
07:16They both work.
07:17They have an SUV and a sports car.
07:19Neiman Marcus credit cards,
07:20but she shops at Target.
07:22She has got a propensity to read
07:25kind of high-end literature,
07:26but she finds guilty pleasure in People magazine.
07:28And she doesn't have an airline.
07:32To cater to women like Carrie,
07:35Song turned to a pro.
07:37Andy Spade, the co-creator of the Kate Spade Company,
07:40a multi-million dollar line of fashion accessories.
07:43I bring ideas, kind of visualize ideas
07:46that companies have
07:47and give them kind of a substance
07:49and a texture
07:49and a life
07:52that they may not know how to create.
07:56And I bring that.
07:56I take their idea
07:58or their point of view
07:59and I try to create this,
08:01make it into something that's bigger.
08:02Maybe emotional,
08:04maybe optimistic,
08:07you know, maybe classical,
08:08maybe, you know, happy.
08:14I think that I'll just start by introducing
08:16kind of the concept and what it is.
08:18Spade's been charged
08:19with producing Song's TV campaign,
08:21the first impression the airline
08:23will make on many Americans.
08:25All right, so why don't we start?
08:26Really create a campaign for Song
08:28that was spirited,
08:29that delivered on the benefits
08:31that we think are the most important.
08:32Do it in a way that's emotional.
08:34Do it in a way that I think is optimistic
08:37because we believe
08:38that's part of the Song ethos.
08:40So we're going to take you
08:41through five different concepts
08:42and five different commercials
08:43that deliver on five different benefits
08:46which we believe
08:47differentiates Song from everyone else.
08:49Spade is proposing
08:50to downplay the airline's new features
08:52in favor of something
08:54much more intangible,
08:56its soul.
08:56There's a book called Lovers here,
08:58which I don't know
08:59if any of you are familiar
09:01with the book Lovers.
09:02I'll pass it around.
09:03But there's these sweet, sweet images.
09:04We were kind of inspired by this
09:06a few times of just people together
09:08and mainly Godard and Truffaut movies
09:11and all those old French New Way films
09:13and then their American films.
09:15When you're alone,
09:16life is making you lonely.
09:18You can always go downtown.
09:23Spade's commercials will show no planes,
09:25no travelers, no low fares,
09:27no airline.
09:29Downtown.
09:30This is an enormously risky strategy.
09:32These commercials, as planned,
09:35will consume almost a third
09:37of Song's $12 million marketing budget.
09:39If the campaign doesn't connect,
09:42Song will just become part of the noise
09:44and Delta, at the brink of bankruptcy,
09:47cannot afford for its new venture to fail.
09:51At least one member of Song's team is nervous.
09:54Well, the risk is you invest
09:55an inordinate amount of money
09:56behind a message that is a fairly ethereal message
09:59that, as they say, doesn't feed the bulldog.
10:01I mean, this is a business.
10:02This isn't an art form.
10:04So we have got to ensure that it's communication
10:06that drives commerce,
10:08not just makes people feel good.
10:09The more we pulled back
10:10and tried to make it a very, very kind of
10:12literal delivery on a benefit,
10:16it just lost that emotion
10:17and we wanted to keep that emotion.
10:19Spade isn't backing off.
10:21He's not content just to convey information.
10:24He's aiming for something bigger.
10:26At the end of the day,
10:27you want to become a part of culture.
10:28And when you get to that point,
10:30you've created a huge success.
10:32And that's what all the great, great,
10:33I think, companies have done
10:34from Virgin to Apple to others.
10:37I think by spending 25 seconds
10:38on the style and the spirit,
10:40this is a void in your category
10:42and you have to get there first.
10:43That's more important
10:44than really building a spot around low fare.
10:46I mean, everyone is going to be low fared.
10:48What really differentiates something
10:50from another thing?
10:50I think it's creating kind of something
10:53that communicates to people
10:55on another level,
10:56beyond a logical level.
10:59The question is an advertising classic.
11:03Should the pitch be aimed at the head
11:04or the heart?
11:06How creative can an ad get
11:08and still be an ad?
11:10Someone once wrote a book
11:11called Advertisements for Myself.
11:13That's what advertising is.
11:15It's advertising for the guys
11:16who are creating it
11:17far more than it is
11:19for the guys
11:19who are paying for it.
11:24They're trying to win awards.
11:25They're trying to make more money.
11:26They're trying to build their own portfolio.
11:27They're trying to get a better job.
11:29They're trying to make up for the fact
11:31that they're in advertising
11:32and not directing films
11:33or doing stand-up comedy
11:34or painting paintings
11:35or whatever they would prefer to do,
11:37I guarantee you.
11:39And the consequence is
11:39a lot of advertising
11:40that's quite extravagant in its look
11:42are very clever
11:43and entertaining and funny,
11:44but which doesn't do
11:45the thing that advertising
11:47is supposed to do,
11:48which is make you want to buy
11:49the good or service
11:51that's nominally being advertised.
11:52Look at the coffee
11:57as it gets darker and stronger.
12:00Not so long ago,
12:01the high-concept ads of today
12:03were all but unthinkable.
12:04Soap has never smelled
12:05this good before,
12:07and neither have you.
12:08Ads laid claim
12:09to real, tangible differences
12:10between one product and another.
12:12What were brands?
12:13They were based on
12:15what I call ER words.
12:16Whiter, brighter, cleaner, stronger.
12:19Smoothest, mildest, tastiest cigarette.
12:21Watch any commercials
12:22on American TV
12:23and you'll see these words
12:24up in the first three seconds
12:25hammered remorselessly
12:26into your brain.
12:28But at some point,
12:29these words ceased to have meaning.
12:32We no longer believed
12:33that one product
12:34was any brighter or cleaner
12:35than any other.
12:37Everything works now,
12:38you know.
12:39French fries taste crisp,
12:40coffee's hot,
12:42you know, beer tastes good,
12:44unless you live in America
12:45and then, you know,
12:46you've got to live
12:46with what you get.
12:47But all these things
12:48now are table stakes.
12:49By the early 1990s,
12:52a new approach to marketing
12:54came to the fore,
12:56one that leapt right over
12:57what the product did
12:58to what the product meant.
13:00You know, it's not just a car.
13:01It's an expression of the culture
13:03and aesthetic
13:04that is connected
13:05somehow to nature,
13:08infinity.
13:09These were the super brands
13:12like Nike,
13:14Starbucks,
13:16the body shop.
13:17And what they noticed
13:18these brands had in common
13:20was that they were,
13:21they were engaging
13:24in a kind of a sort of
13:26pseudo-spiritual marketing.
13:34So Nike said that they were
13:36about the meaning of sports,
13:37but more than that,
13:38that they were about
13:38transcendence through sports.
13:40Starbucks said that they were
13:42about the idea of community,
13:43a place that is a third place,
13:45that is not home,
13:45not work.
13:46Benetton was, of course,
13:47selling multiculturalism,
13:49racial diversity.
13:50This lesson,
13:52that a brand could forge
13:53an emotional,
13:54even spiritual bond
13:55with today's cynical consumer,
13:57wasn't lost on corporate America.
14:00What are you saying
14:01with your Chinette plates?
14:02This wave of corporate epiphanies
14:10in the mid-90s
14:11where all these companies,
14:12you know,
14:13were told,
14:13you know,
14:13what your problem is
14:14is you don't have
14:14a big idea
14:15behind your brand.
14:16So they would hire
14:17high-priced consultants
14:19and they would have
14:19these kind of corporate
14:20sweat lodges
14:21and gather around
14:22the campfire
14:24and sort of try to channel
14:25their inner brand meaning.
14:27And they would emerge
14:28from these processes
14:30sort of flushed
14:30and say, you know,
14:31Polaroid isn't a camera.
14:34It's a social lubricant.
14:35When I was a brand manager
14:36at Procter & Gamble,
14:37my job was basically
14:38to make sure
14:40the product was good,
14:41develop new advertising copy,
14:43design the pack.
14:45Now a brand manager
14:46has an entirely different
14:47kind of responsibility.
14:48In fact,
14:48they have more responsibility.
14:50Their job now
14:51is to create
14:52and maintain
14:53a whole meaning system
14:54for people
14:54through which they get
14:55identity
14:56and understanding
14:57of the world.
14:58Their job now
14:59is to be a community
15:00leader.
15:01It is the big monopolistic.
15:03Ad strategist
15:04Douglas Adkin,
15:05an expert
15:06on the relationship
15:07between consumers
15:08and brands,
15:09says he had a eureka moment
15:11one night
15:11during a focus group.
15:12I was in a research facility
15:14watching eight people
15:16rhapsodize about a sneaker.
15:18And I thought,
15:19where is this coming from?
15:20This is, at the end of the day,
15:21a piece of footwear.
15:22But the terms
15:23they were using
15:23were evangelical.
15:25So I thought,
15:26if these people
15:27are expressing
15:28cult-like devotion,
15:29then why not
15:31study cults?
15:32Why not study
15:32the original?
15:33Find out why people
15:34join cults
15:35and apply that knowledge
15:37to brands.
15:38I'm loyal to this practice
15:39because it's done
15:40so much for me.
15:41If Adkin could find
15:42what pushed a person
15:43from mere fan
15:44to devoted disciple,
15:46perhaps he could market
15:47that knowledge.
15:48Most of the people
15:48I discuss the WWF with
15:51know that it's not a sport.
15:52Right.
15:53It's a masculine ballet.
15:54So he compared
15:55dozens of groups
15:56he considered cults
15:57with so-called
15:58cult brands,
15:59from Harry Krishna
16:00to Harley Davidson.
16:01If you're smart
16:02and kind of individual,
16:06that's what you drive.
16:07They realize
16:08there are other people
16:09like them
16:09and they cooperate
16:10on certain projects.
16:11And it's part
16:12of belonging to the tribe.
16:14And the conclusion
16:14was this,
16:15is that people,
16:16whether they're joining
16:17a cult or joining
16:18a brand,
16:19do so for exactly
16:20the same reasons.
16:21They need to belong
16:22and they want to make meaning.
16:24We need to figure out
16:25what the world is all about
16:26and we need the company
16:27of others.
16:28It's simply that.
16:29This summer,
16:30we invited everyone
16:31who owns a Saturn
16:32to visit us in Tennessee,
16:34the place their car was born.
16:37And that's the object
16:37of emotional branding,
16:39to fill the empty places
16:40where non-commercial institutions
16:42like schools and churches
16:43might have once done the job.
16:45Brands become more
16:46than just a mark of quality.
16:48They become an invitation
16:49to a longed-for lifestyle,
16:51a ready-made identity.
16:56When you listen
16:57to brand managers talk,
16:59you can get quite carried away
17:00in this idea
17:01that they actually
17:02are fulfilling these needs
17:03that we have
17:04for community
17:04and narrative
17:05and transcendence.
17:08But in the end,
17:09it is a laptop
17:10and a pair of running shoes.
17:13And they might be great,
17:15but they're not actually
17:15going to fulfill those needs,
17:18which serves them very well
17:19because, of course,
17:19that means that you have
17:20to go shopping again.
17:23Ironically,
17:24this new, more spiritual trend
17:26in branding
17:27has ultimately put enormous pressure
17:29back on ad agencies.
17:31There are only so many
17:32big concepts to go around.
17:37Starry-eyed advertisers
17:38looking to become
17:39the next big thing
17:40are constantly dropping
17:42one agency for another.
17:44This cutthroat economic climate
17:45means that for many ad agencies,
17:47their most important pitch of all
17:49is for themselves.
17:52Boy, does the world need
17:53breakthrough ideas.
17:55Kevin Roberts
17:56is the CEO
17:57of Saatchi & Saatchi.
17:59What used to be
17:59the biggest player
18:00in the ad business
18:01is now a small subsidiary
18:03of a giant French holding company.
18:06In the weeks before
18:08we saw Kevin Roberts,
18:09Saatchi took a major blow,
18:11losing $185 million
18:13in billings
18:14from its client Johnson & Johnson,
18:16including the Tylenol account
18:18that Saatchi had held
18:19for 28 years.
18:21But Roberts is undaunted.
18:24He thinks he's found a path
18:25to revive Saatchi's fortunes.
18:28So we figured out
18:28what the answer was
18:29that there was something
18:31in outstanding brands...
18:32What sets Roberts' big idea
18:33apart from his competitors
18:35is its boldness.
18:37He claims he has discovered
18:38the formula
18:39to turn nearly any product
18:41into an object of devotion.
18:42That there were brands
18:43that connected
18:44and there were brands
18:46that people loved.
18:47They didn't like them,
18:48they didn't admire them,
18:48they didn't respect them,
18:49they didn't use them.
18:51None of that wimpy-wompy stuff.
18:52They loved them.
18:54Roberts calls his big idea
18:56Love Marks.
18:58What is a Love Mark?
18:59A Love Mark is a brand
19:00that has created
19:01loyalty beyond reason,
19:03that's infused with mystery,
19:04sensuality, and intimacy,
19:06and that you recognize
19:09immediately as having
19:11some kind of iconic place
19:16in your heart.
19:18Happy Holidays.
19:19Oh, there's the mystery
19:20in a Cheerios.
19:22Oh, Cheerios is full of mystery.
19:24I mean, you don't think
19:25that people just eat these
19:26and put them in a bowl, do you?
19:28I mean, that's not how
19:29they eat them anyway.
19:30Most kids play with them,
19:31they make stories up about them,
19:33they imagine them.
19:34You know how much Grandma
19:36wanted to be here
19:37for your first Christmas?
19:38She came a long way.
19:40You see, Grandma lives
19:41way down here.
19:43Brian, your cousin,
19:44he's a little bit older than you,
19:45he lives here in Chicago.
19:47You can build mystery
19:48as long as you believe
19:50in the story.
19:51But no matter where Grandma lives,
19:54we'll always be together
19:56for Christmas.
19:57Happy Holidays from Cheerios.
19:59He just ate Dallas.
20:01I guess so.
20:02But how many brands
20:03ever really succeed
20:04in creating loyalty
20:05beyond reason?
20:07There are few examples
20:09when advertising really does
20:10cast a Svengali spell.
20:12AT&T has done it,
20:14Hallmark has done it,
20:15Coca-Cola has done it.
20:17But most of the people
20:19who've tried to make
20:20emotional connections
20:21with consumers over the years,
20:22by far the vast, vast majority,
20:25have failed.
20:25They've gone down in flames.
20:27Think about it this way.
20:36Instead of saying,
20:36that's so cool,
20:37you'll say, that's so Song.
20:39Just six months
20:40after it was first conceived,
20:42Song Airlines is in the skies.
20:44What began as a new way
20:45to market Delta's lower-cost flights
20:47has emerged as a company-wide culture,
20:50an ethos imprinted
20:51onto every available surface.
20:53We are not an airline,
20:54we are Song.
20:55I think Song, you know,
20:57is about a lifestyle.
20:58It's more than an airline.
21:00You know, our translation
21:01is we want to create a movement.
21:02We want to create a movement
21:03of people
21:04that are going to have
21:06an emotional connection
21:07with this company.
21:09Song hired one of the world's
21:10leading branding agencies
21:12to create a name
21:13and a look
21:13like no other airlines.
21:16And they not only
21:17branded their planes,
21:18they branded their people.
21:19Instead of holding job interviews,
21:22Song auditioned
21:22their flight attendants,
21:24then taught them
21:25how to be Song,
21:26giving them scripts
21:27for what to say
21:27and how to act.
21:30Song is becoming
21:30an adjective
21:31at our airlines,
21:32so we've got an expression,
21:33you are so Song.
21:35We can never do anything
21:36that's off Song
21:37or off-tune.
21:38It has to be on-brand.
21:40Do they kind of teach you
21:41to be Song?
21:42Oh, no, we had Song in us
21:44before Song was Song.
21:45So they give you
21:46more permission
21:47to be Song?
21:47We've always had Song.
21:48They were like,
21:48you are so Song,
21:49bring it, show it.
21:51Right?
21:52Bring it on.
21:53Be it, be Song.
21:54But despite Song's enthusiasm,
21:57there's reason to wonder
21:58if they are breaking
21:59through the clutter.
22:00A dozen actors
22:01with Song TVs
22:02strapped to their stomachs
22:03got lots of puzzled stares
22:05in the streets of Boston.
22:06I'm not sure,
22:07but I'm either really drunk
22:08or some strange going down.
22:11But so did
22:12every other walking billboard.
22:18They've opened a new
22:18Song concept store
22:20in Boston.
22:21But it seems like
22:22one more distraction
22:23in a giant mall.
22:25And it may have raised
22:26more questions
22:27than it answered.
22:28So you're an airline?
22:30Yes, we are.
22:31Or a travel agency?
22:33We're an airline.
22:34Can consumers see
22:36through all of this
22:36brand experience
22:37to the product Song
22:39is supposed to be selling?
22:40Okay.
22:41So something new.
22:42You're welcome.
22:43Have a great day.
22:44If you scratch
22:45the self-confidence
22:46surface of advertising,
22:48you'll uncover
22:48an unnerving anxiety.
22:50Is any of this
22:51really working?
22:53There's an aphorism
22:54as old as advertising itself.
22:57I know I'm wasting
22:57half my ad dollars.
22:59I just don't know
23:00which half.
23:01What works?
23:02When does it work?
23:03And with whom?
23:05The whispered truth
23:06on Madison Avenue
23:07is that despite enough
23:08studies to fill a library,
23:10still nobody really knows.
23:12Ladies and gentlemen,
23:15the executive producers
23:17and stars of NYPD Blue.
23:20This is the financial bedrock
23:22of the advertising industry
23:23called the upfronts
23:25where every year
23:26network TV executives
23:28present their coming fall season
23:29and its stars
23:30and advertisers line up
23:32to buy commercial minutes.
23:34But in recent years,
23:36the model has begun
23:36to break down.
23:38Where else in the world
23:40can you be convinced
23:41to pay more
23:42for a commodity
23:44that is experiencing
23:45diminishing returns?
23:47Giant advertisers
23:48like American Express
23:49are losing faith
23:50in the traditional
23:5130-second ad.
23:52We as advertisers
23:53are paying more
23:54to reach less.
23:56Now the definition
23:57of insanity
23:57is to continually
23:58do the same thing
23:59over and over
24:00and expect different results.
24:01Right?
24:03Television audiences
24:05are watching fewer ads,
24:07the networks
24:07are losing viewers
24:08to cable
24:09and the appearance
24:10of digital video recorders
24:12like TiVo
24:12now allow people
24:14to zap the ads altogether.
24:15Wow, that is crazy.
24:17What's your answer?
24:19Advertisers are frightened.
24:20I think they're sort of
24:21deer in the head,
24:21like, what do we do?
24:23Within, you know,
24:24a matter of five years,
24:25we will have a huge
24:26percentage of the country
24:27will be, you know,
24:28we'll have this technology.
24:30Five years, you know,
24:31isn't a lot of time
24:34in terms of creating
24:36new models.
24:39So what countermeasure
24:40have advertisers
24:41come up with
24:42to the remote-wielding viewer?
24:43Aside from the stuff
24:44that I got at J.Crew,
24:45I went to French Connection.
24:46These are from Clark.
24:47And I got you
24:48some great eyewear
24:49from Ray-Ban.
24:49If the audience
24:50is skipping commercials
24:51to get to the programs,
24:53why not become part
24:54of the programs themselves?
24:57If I was starting
24:58Friends today,
24:59instead of it taking place
25:01in a coffee shop,
25:02a generic coffee shop,
25:04if you were Starbucks,
25:06wouldn't it be great
25:07to have them meet
25:08in a Starbucks?
25:10You would never have
25:11to mention Cappuccino.
25:14It would just be there.
25:16Starbucks may have missed
25:17that opportunity,
25:19but the world's largest
25:20coffee chain caught a break
25:21on the next one.
25:22In the big-budget Hollywood movie
25:24I Am Sam,
25:25Sean Penn's character
25:26doesn't just happen
25:27to work at a Starbucks.
25:29That's a wonderful choice,
25:30thank you.
25:31Starbucks becomes
25:32a key character
25:33in the story.
25:34I need to make coffee.
25:36I need to pay my lawyer.
25:38The idea of taking a brand
25:41and integrating
25:41all of its assets
25:42into an idea
25:44where it becomes a hero.
25:49Let's look at Castaway,
25:50for example.
25:53We open up
25:54getting on a plane.
25:58The plane crashes.
25:59All but one person
26:01is killed.
26:02Four years ago...
26:03How bold was that
26:05of Fred Smith,
26:05the founder and chairman
26:06of FedEx?
26:07He to allow it,
26:08but to do it himself.
26:09Terrible and tragic day.
26:12And at the end of the film,
26:13not only did we deliver
26:14the packages,
26:16but we found romance.
26:21How much better
26:22could you feel
26:23about the brand?
26:23Ad Age magazine
26:27dubbed this alliance
26:28between New York's
26:29ad men
26:29and Hollywood studios
26:31Madison and Vine.
26:34It is the integration
26:36of entertainment
26:36with advertising
26:37in a partnership
26:38that often begins
26:39before a show
26:40is even conceived.
26:42Meanwhile,
26:43Samantha had used
26:43her pushiness
26:44to parlay her new man's
26:46hit off-Broadway show
26:47into a hot
26:49on-Broadway poster.
26:50To mate a brand
26:51with the once-commercial-free
26:52HBO series
26:53Sex and the City,
26:55Absolute Vodka
26:56and HBO writers
26:57worked out a storyline
26:58in which one of the show's
26:59characters finds his way
27:00onto an Absolute billboard.
27:02HBO got to use
27:03the brand's name
27:04in a key plot twist,
27:06and Absolute got
27:07unprecedented access
27:08to HBO's
27:09upscale audience.
27:10Guess what I'm drinking?
27:12An Absolute Hunk.
27:13They created a drink
27:14called the Absolute Hunk.
27:16And you're delish.
27:17So we went to the producers
27:18of Sex and the City,
27:19and we said,
27:20OK, we've got
27:21a real product
27:22and a real drink
27:23called the Absolute Hunk.
27:26We want you to weave
27:27an entire storyline
27:28around this drink
27:30and this product
27:32so that it is
27:33unmistakably
27:34the conversation piece
27:36on Monday morning
27:36at the water cooler.
27:38Wow!
27:38It was quite the buzz.
27:40The way God
27:41and Madison Avenue
27:42intended.
27:44There are agencies,
27:45for instance,
27:45in Hollywood
27:47who go through
27:48every script
27:49before it is produced
27:50and find specific
27:52opportunities
27:52for automobiles,
27:54for beer,
27:55for virtually any product
27:57that you might want
27:58to name.
28:00But it's not just
28:01product placement,
28:02and it's not just
28:03movies and TV.
28:06Rock stars like Sting
28:08are partnering up
28:08with big brands
28:09and debuting their songs
28:11in advertisements
28:12as a way of reaching
28:13a wider audience.
28:14even anti-establishment icon
28:17Bob Dylan starred
28:19in a hybrid
28:19of music video
28:20and ad
28:21for Victoria's Secret
28:22and got his CD
28:24stocked in their lingerie
28:25stores to boot.
28:26In the video.
28:26The times they are a-changin',
28:32some fear for the worse.
28:34Once a culture becomes
28:36entirely advertising-friendly,
28:39it ceases to be a culture
28:42at all.
28:43It ceases to be a culture
28:44worth the name.
28:46It has to have
28:46the constant mood
28:48that shoppers require.
28:51There has to be a kind
28:51of Muzak playing
28:52in the background
28:53all the time.
28:55Now you think back
28:55to those dramas,
28:57those comedies
28:58that have really stayed
28:59with you,
28:59that have moved you
29:00tremendously,
29:01that you want to see again,
29:03that you think about
29:03for days.
29:05Well, those kinds of works
29:06are increasingly unlikely
29:08when the stuff
29:10that's on TV
29:11basically functions
29:13to sell Pepsi's,
29:15to sell Nikes,
29:16to sell selling,
29:18to sell consumption.
29:20This is the same idea
29:21as a focus group,
29:22just a really,
29:22really small group.
29:24Far away from the boardrooms
29:25of the entertainment industry,
29:27in places like this
29:28nondescript office park
29:30outside Boston,
29:31the nitty-gritty work
29:32of selling starts
29:33with a simple questionnaire
29:34about bread.
29:36And now what do you see
29:36as the disadvantages
29:37to eating grain-based foods?
29:39Today, faced with a nation
29:41hooked on low-carb diets,
29:44the baked goods industry
29:45needs to find out
29:46just how Americans feel
29:47about their products.
29:49I'm going to read you
29:49some different emotions.
29:52I've got a whole list
29:53of them here.
29:53For each one of them,
29:54I just want you to tell me
29:55yes or no
29:56as to whether or not
29:57you think you feel
29:58that emotion
29:59when you're eating
30:00white bread.
30:02Okay?
30:03The first one is accepting.
30:07Do you feel accepting
30:08when you're eating
30:08white bread?
30:11Yeah, I would say yes.
30:14Affectionate?
30:14No.
30:16Lonely?
30:17No.
30:19Disappointed?
30:21No.
30:22Afraid?
30:23No.
30:24Trusting?
30:26No, I don't think
30:27that would be an issue.
30:29Would you feel uncertain?
30:35Yeah, a little uncertain.
30:37I've got one question.
30:38Can I ask a question?
30:40Where the question was
30:42when you eat bread
30:43do you feel lonely?
30:45Have you found people
30:46say yes they feel lonely
30:47when they're eating bread?
30:48Not a lot on this one.
30:49Welcome to the strange
30:50world of market research.
30:52Now we have to be careful
30:53because that's not
30:54politically correct
30:55to say women and inside.
30:57Where those who claim
30:58to have figured out
30:59the hidden desires
31:00of consumers
31:00are treated as gurus.
31:02We all come from a woman.
31:03We all spend nine months
31:04inside of a woman.
31:05So women are experts
31:07in the inside.
31:10Translation,
31:10when a woman buy a car
31:11the first thing
31:12she is looking at
31:13is do they have
31:14cup holders?
31:15Dr. Clotter Rapai
31:16lives in a baronial mansion
31:17in upstate New York.
31:20Fortune 500 companies
31:21and their advertising agencies
31:23flock there
31:24to drink French champagne,
31:27admire Rapai's many cars,
31:30and listen with rapt attention
31:32to his insights
31:32on the irrational mind
31:34of the American shopper.
31:35And we have to understand
31:36for each product
31:37what is the dynamic
31:38behind that?
31:38What is it that people
31:39are really buying there?
31:41A trained psychiatrist,
31:43Rapai developed a theory
31:44that there are
31:44unconscious associations
31:46for nearly every product
31:47we buy
31:48buried deep in our brains.
31:49One of my discoveries
31:50was that when you learn
31:51a word,
31:52whatever it is,
31:53coffee, love, mother,
31:55the first time
31:55you understand,
31:57you imprint
31:57the meaning of this word,
31:59you create a mental connection.
32:01And so actually
32:02every word
32:03has a mental highway,
32:05I call that a code,
32:06an unconscious code
32:07in the brain.
32:09Corporations love
32:10the idea
32:11of buying a single key
32:12to the psyches
32:13of vast numbers
32:13of consumers,
32:14a simple code
32:16that lies behind
32:17millions of individual decisions.
32:19I have 50 of the
32:19Fortune 100 companies
32:20as clients.
32:23Tonight,
32:23Rapai has been commissioned
32:24by a handful
32:25of big companies,
32:26like Boeing and Acura,
32:28to break the code
32:29on luxury.
32:29I don't believe
32:30what people say.
32:32So some people listen
32:34to what they say
32:35and they say,
32:36do you want to buy that,
32:37do you want to do this?
32:38I don't believe
32:38what people say.
32:40I want to understand
32:41why they do
32:42what they do.
32:43I found this word
32:44and with that
32:45I want to understand
32:46you guys.
32:48This is the word,
32:48the right spelling.
32:50To crack the luxury code,
32:51Rapai conducts
32:52a series of focus groups.
32:54I'm serious.
32:55That's what I want
32:55to understand,
32:56how you feel about it.
32:57And anything for me
32:58is interesting.
32:59Money?
33:00Money!
33:01He takes his subjects
33:02on what he hopes
33:03will be a psychic journey,
33:04past reason,
33:06through emotion,
33:07to the primal core,
33:09where Rapai insists
33:10all purchasing decisions
33:11really lie.
33:12We start with the cortex
33:14because people want
33:16to show how intelligent
33:17they are.
33:17So give them a chance.
33:19We don't care
33:19what they say.
33:20When people try
33:22to sell you luxury things,
33:24what kind of word
33:25do they use?
33:27Well-made.
33:28Well-made.
33:29Nothing new there.
33:31And then we have a break.
33:33They're usually
33:34very happy with themselves.
33:35Oh, we did a good job
33:36and so on.
33:36Then when they come back,
33:38then there is no more chairs.
33:39Make yourself comfortable.
33:40Oh-oh, what is going on here?
33:41How come no chairs?
33:43And I explain to them
33:45that I would like them
33:46to try to go back
33:47to the very first time
33:49they experience
33:50what we're trying
33:51to understand.
33:52Rapai is hunting
33:53for our primal urges.
33:54He's after what he calls
33:56the reptilian hot buttons
33:57that compel us to action.
34:00It's absolutely crucial
34:01to understand
34:02what I call
34:02the reptilian hot button.
34:04My theory is very simple.
34:06The reptilian always wins.
34:08I don't care
34:09what you're going to tell me
34:10intellectually.
34:12Give me the reptilian.
34:15I want you to be
34:16in a mindset
34:17a little bit like
34:18the one you have
34:18when you wake up
34:19in the morning.
34:20You'll be surprised
34:21to see that things
34:22come back to your mind
34:23that you forgot
34:24for the time
34:24for 20, 30 years.
34:26It's amazing.
34:28The scribbles of consumers
34:29in the semi-darkness,
34:31half-remembered words
34:32and pictures
34:32associated with luxury,
34:34somehow become
34:35Rapai's key
34:36to unlocking
34:36the luxury code.
34:38Once you get the code,
34:39suddenly everything
34:40starts making sense.
34:42I understand why
34:42this car sells,
34:43this car doesn't sell.
34:44I understand why
34:46a small 29,000 Cadillacs
34:48cannot sell.
34:49I understand why,
34:50because it's off code.
34:53Over the years,
34:54Rapai has told car makers
34:56to beef up
34:56the size of their SUVs
34:58and tint the windows
34:59because the code
35:00for SUVs
35:01is domination.
35:04He told a French company
35:05trying to sell cheese
35:06to Americans
35:07that they were off code.
35:11In France,
35:12the cheese is alive.
35:14You never put the cheese
35:14in the refrigerator
35:15because you don't put
35:16your cat in the refrigerator.
35:18It's the same as alive.
35:19If I know that in America
35:21the cheese is dead,
35:22and I've been studying cheese
35:24in almost 50 states
35:25in America,
35:25I can tell you
35:26the cheese is dead
35:27everywhere.
35:28Then I have to put that
35:30up front.
35:31I have to say
35:31this cheese is safe,
35:33it's pasteurized,
35:34it's wrapped up in plastic.
35:35I know the plastic
35:36is a body bag.
35:37You can't put it
35:38in the fridge.
35:39I know the fridge
35:39is the morgue.
35:40That's where you put
35:41the dead bodies.
35:42And so once you know that,
35:43this is the way
35:44you market cheese
35:45in America.
35:46It just got easier
35:47to just say cheese.
35:48One word that kept
35:49coming up in the stories
35:51is a reach,
35:53reaching to the next level.
35:54While Clotaire Rappai
35:55and his clients
35:56continue their quest
35:57to crack the code
35:58on luxury,
36:00It might be interesting
36:01to explore the difference
36:02between first class
36:03and world class.
36:05Song Airlines
36:06is running out of time
36:07and money.
36:08A year into operation,
36:10the full marketing team
36:11convenes in Las Vegas
36:12to assess how the experiment
36:14in creating a lifestyle brand
36:16is working out.
36:17On behalf of Song,
36:19I want to welcome
36:19everybody here.
36:20This team has done
36:21an incredible job
36:22of introducing the brand
36:23called Song,
36:24this new airline.
36:25But there are clouds
36:26on the horizon.
36:28Parent company Delta
36:29is losing billions of dollars
36:31and Song's marketing budget
36:32has been drastically cut.
36:34The intangible thing
36:36called Song
36:37must deliver
36:38some tangible results.
36:40To do so,
36:41it must penetrate
36:42the distracted minds
36:43of Americans.
36:45The news so far
36:46is mixed.
36:47Right now,
36:48the greatest thing
36:48that you've done so far
36:49is build a really solid
36:50brand identity for yourself
36:52that's coming through
36:52completely clearly
36:53in the advertising.
36:54People are completely
36:55identifying with it.
36:57But while people
36:58are responding
36:58to the advertising,
36:59many consumers
37:00don't know
37:01what the advertising is for.
37:02In terms of overall recall,
37:0435% of our sample
37:06felt that they had
37:08seen you somewhere.
37:09Where we do start
37:10to see a slight problem
37:11in terms of
37:12which airline
37:14do you think
37:14this advertising is for.
37:16we're losing
37:17almost 50%
37:18at that point.
37:19So what we're calling
37:20our true recognition figure
37:21is those people
37:23who both saw
37:24the advertising
37:25and were confident
37:26and knew that it was for Song.
37:27And that was 15%
37:28of our sample.
37:34Song's long-anticipated
37:36TV ad finally went on the air,
37:38but it may have been
37:38too little, too late.
37:40Though Song has built loyalty,
37:43Delta is careening
37:44toward bankruptcy
37:45and may bring Song
37:46down with it.
37:51In Tuxedo Park, New York,
37:53Dr. Rapai is also
37:54nearing the end
37:55of his process.
37:56He's ready to unveil
37:57the code on luxury.
37:59Rapai's clients,
38:01having together paid
38:01several hundred thousand dollars,
38:03are convinced the code
38:04will give them
38:05a competitive advantage
38:06no matter what
38:07they're selling.
38:08I think the code
38:09we discovered
38:09was there already
38:11a long time ago
38:13and is going to be around
38:14for a generation
38:15in a generation.
38:16We were not allowed
38:17to see the actual code.
38:19Its secrecy is worth
38:20a lot of money
38:20to Rapai's customers.
38:22The content might vary.
38:24The structure is the same.
38:26But the clients,
38:26many of whom have worked
38:28with Rapai before,
38:29are enthusiastic.
38:30So far,
38:31you're sold on
38:31what he's doing?
38:32Yes.
38:33I strongly believe
38:34in what he's doing.
38:35Strongly.
38:36Marc Salmon
38:37is the vice president
38:38for development
38:38at Firmenich,
38:39a Swiss fragrance
38:40and flavor designer.
38:42We need to absorb
38:42the code,
38:44check it,
38:46create products
38:48that are in code.
38:51Try to understand,
38:52looking at what is existing,
38:54what are the on code
38:56and off code.
38:57It works.
38:59Good marketing research works.
39:01When we say it works,
39:02it means that marketers
39:04understand
39:05understand the real need
39:07of the customers,
39:08sometimes unspoken,
39:11and they deliver.
39:12Give me what I want.
39:16Give us what we want.
39:18It has become the imperative
39:20that no corporation
39:21or any persuader
39:22can afford to ignore.
39:24That's why modern political campaigns
39:26have also come to rely
39:28on an army of pollsters
39:29and market researchers,
39:30all taking the moment-by-moment pulse
39:33of the man on the street.
39:35I got a rule,
39:36which is cab drivers
39:37and antique dealers
39:38know more about America
39:39than anybody else.
39:41And when the cab drivers
39:42feel a certain way,
39:43I know I need to listen.
39:44No one has imported
39:45the techniques and philosophy
39:47of market research
39:48into politics
39:49more successfully
39:50than Frank Luntz.
39:51His clients have been
39:53some of the most prominent
39:54Republican politicians
39:55of the last decade.
39:57There was the mayoral campaign
39:58for Rudolph Giuliani in 1993,
40:01his work for Silvio Berlusconi
40:03in Italy,
40:04and especially his collaboration
40:05with Newt Gingrich
40:06on the famous contract
40:08with America,
40:09the document that ushered in
40:10the Republican revolution
40:11in Congress.
40:12If an electricity company
40:14stood up and said,
40:17we want to do it
40:17for your benefit,
40:18we want to do it
40:19for our benefit,
40:21we want to do it
40:21for everyone's benefit,
40:23and so we have
40:24a better approach.
40:26Tonight,
40:27Luntz's client
40:28is not a candidate,
40:29but a Florida utility
40:30wanting to build
40:31public support
40:32for a change
40:32in how it's regulated
40:33on the environment.
40:35I know that the public
40:36is very down
40:37on corporate America
40:38in general,
40:39and they're down
40:39on power companies.
40:40So what is the language?
40:42What is the information?
40:43What are the facts?
40:44What are the figures
40:45that would get Americans
40:46to say,
40:47you know what?
40:48My electricity company,
40:49it's okay.
40:5121st century technology.
40:53One, two, three, four.
40:55Sound science.
40:57Luntz's specialty
40:58is testing language,
41:00finding words that work.
41:02Integrity.
41:03One, two, three, four,
41:04five, six, seven,
41:05eight, nine, ten, eleven.
41:07Reliability.
41:08Here's the other one.
41:09An art that even
41:09his political opponents
41:11seem to grudgingly admire.
41:13Frank Luntz doesn't do issues.
41:15He does language around issues.
41:17He figures out
41:18what words will best sell an issue.
41:22And he polls them,
41:23and he tests them,
41:23and he focus groups them,
41:24and he comes up issue by issue
41:26with how to talk about it
41:28and how not to talk about it.
41:29If the language works,
41:31the language works.
41:32No, it's just amazing.
41:33Luntz has sold
41:34his corporate
41:34and political clients
41:36the idea
41:36that a few carefully chosen words
41:38can make all the difference.
41:40But he's not just
41:41looking for any words.
41:42Luntz's quarry
41:43are those words
41:44that grab our guts
41:45and move us to act
41:46on an emotional level.
41:47It's amazing
41:48that there's two words.
41:49Constantly.
41:49Almost everything that we do
41:51come up at the top.
41:53So I think that
41:54companies don't use them enough.
41:55I don't know.
41:56You're going to use these
41:57to register
41:58whether you agree
41:59or disagree,
42:00whether you believe
42:01or disbelieve.
42:02The dials go from
42:03zero to 100.
42:04On one hand,
42:05you have wind
42:06which has no fossil fuels
42:08associated with it.
42:09To get at his subject's
42:10gut feelings,
42:11Luntz has them register
42:13their moment-by-moment
42:14responses to a speech
42:15by a power company executive.
42:18Climbing, climbing, climbing.
42:20Changing fuels.
42:24But watching Luntz's work,
42:26I couldn't help wondering,
42:27do the words he's found
42:29help the public
42:29see the issue more clearly
42:31or do they disguise it?
42:33Is Luntz listening to us
42:34so his clients
42:34can give us what we want
42:36or so he can figure out
42:37how to make us want
42:38what they have to sell?
42:40The words work.
42:41The words apply to the policy.
42:43This is how we're going
42:43to sell it.
42:45And I will be able
42:45to walk to this
42:46electricity company
42:47on Monday
42:49and be able to say to them,
42:51your policy makes sense
42:53and here's the language
42:54to explain it.
42:55That was the eureka moment
42:56when I watched people
42:58nod their heads,
42:58I watched them
43:00look to each other
43:00and they were willing
43:01at this point
43:02to fight for this position.
43:04You're replacing
43:05the bad with the good.
43:06It's almost like
43:07in with the bad.
43:07This is a guy
43:08who is merchandising ideas
43:11and merchandising
43:12a movement
43:13and merchandising
43:15a political party.
43:17And in many instances,
43:19the words that he says
43:21are the ones that resonate
43:23are ones that make,
43:25that obscure to some extent
43:28the issue.
43:29Take the so-called death tax.
43:31When it was called
43:32the estate tax,
43:33most people supported it.
43:35But Luntz managed to turn
43:36public opinion against it
43:38simply by giving it
43:39an emotionally loaded new name.
43:40For years,
43:43political people
43:43and lawyers,
43:44who by the way
43:45are the worst communicators,
43:47used the phrase
43:48estate tax.
43:49And for years
43:50they couldn't eliminate it
43:51but the public
43:52wouldn't support it
43:53because the word estate
43:53sounds wealthy.
43:55Someone like me
43:56comes around
43:56and realizes
43:57that it's not an estate tax,
43:58it's a death tax
43:59because you're taxed
44:00at death.
44:02And suddenly,
44:02something that isn't viable
44:05achieves the support
44:07of 75%
44:08of the American people.
44:10It's the same tax
44:12but nobody really knows
44:14what an estate is
44:15but they certainly know
44:16what it means
44:16to be taxed
44:17when you die.
44:19I'd argue
44:19that is a clarification
44:21that's not an obfuscation.
44:24Luntz has admonished
44:25Republican politicians
44:26to talk about
44:27tax relief
44:28instead of tax cuts
44:29and to replace
44:30the war in Iraq
44:31with the war on terror.
44:34He once told his party
44:35to speak of climate change
44:36not global warming.
44:39What is the difference?
44:40It is climate change.
44:42Some people call it
44:43global warming,
44:44some people call it
44:44climate change.
44:45What is the difference?
44:47It apparently made
44:48enough difference
44:48to Republicans
44:49that they began
44:50to use climate change
44:51almost exclusively.
44:53It caused climate change.
44:55The president's
44:55global climate change initiative.
44:57Climate change research.
44:58And we must address
44:59the issue of
45:00global climate change.
45:01I don't argue with you
45:02that words can sometimes
45:04be used to confuse.
45:06But it's up to the practitioners
45:08of this study of language
45:10to apply them for good
45:12and not for evil.
45:13It is just like fire.
45:14Fire can heat your house
45:15or burn it down.
45:19Finding the right words
45:21is important.
45:22But pushing those words
45:23through the clutter
45:24is as hard for politicians
45:25as it is for commercial marketers.
45:27One idea that emerged
45:29in a major way
45:30in the 2004 election
45:31is a twist on an old strategy.
45:35Reaching out to voters
45:36on a one-to-one basis.
45:37They call it narrowcasting.
45:39We're going to be helping
45:40participate with voter registration
45:41in a parade.
45:42These canvassers
45:43for America Coming Together,
45:45a liberal advocacy group,
45:46did some of the first experiments
45:48with narrowcasting techniques
45:49in the run-up
45:50to the 2004 election.
45:52Every afternoon,
45:54ACT canvassers here
45:55in the key swing state of Ohio
45:57were given the names
45:58and addresses
45:58of potential voters.
46:00They were sent into the field
46:02with a lot of information
46:03about each of the voters
46:04they were visiting.
46:05Profiles compiled by computer
46:07from demographic data,
46:09including exactly what issues
46:10the voters were likely
46:11to respond to.
46:12Each ACT canvasser
46:14was armed with a short,
46:15customized video.
46:16If you don't mind,
46:17I just have a clip
46:19that's not even one minute
46:21that I just wanted to show you
46:22about some of the issues
46:23that I just mentioned.
46:24This potential voter
46:26was being shown a movie
46:27about job losses
46:28for African-Americans in Ohio.
46:30African-American unemployment
46:31has skyrocketed
46:32to a 10-year high.
46:34Elsewhere,
46:35other Ohioans
46:36were seeing different
46:36video messages
46:37tailored to their own
46:39personal demographic profiles.
46:41Ohio has gone backwards.
46:43Sure has.
46:45Right now,
46:45there are only a few
46:46different messages.
46:47But pretty soon,
46:48if all goes according to plan,
46:50they will be customized
46:51for dozens of different
46:52demographic groups.
46:54If you want to get up
46:55to 51% of the vote,
46:56you probably have to assemble
46:58a coalition of 20 or 30
47:00or 50 demographic groups.
47:02So as a modern candidate,
47:04you will want to have
47:05a strategy for how to communicate
47:06with each one of those
47:08demographic groups.
47:09You want a targeted ad
47:10on the gun control,
47:11on the pro-life,
47:12on the military,
47:13on the economic issues.
47:16You're going to want to have
47:17a message that's tailored
47:18for each one of those groups.
47:20If you don't do it,
47:21you're putting out broadcast ads
47:23in a narrow-cast world.
47:25But where did all this
47:26information come from?
47:28How did political parties
47:29and advocacy groups
47:30know whom to reach
47:31with what message?
47:33The answer to that question
47:34begins here.
47:36The Axiom Corporation
47:37of Little Rock, Arkansas,
47:38is one of the biggest companies
47:40you've never heard of.
47:42Somewhere in these acres
47:43of blinking computers
47:44is carefully guarded data
47:46about you.
47:47Not just your name,
47:49address, and phone number,
47:50but probably also
47:51the catalogs you get,
47:52the cars you've bought,
47:53and maybe even what shoes
47:55you wear,
47:55and whether you like
47:56dogs or cats.
47:58Axiom's information
47:59is culled from census data
48:01and tax records,
48:02those product surveys
48:03you answered,
48:04and customer records
48:05supplied by corporations
48:07and credit card companies
48:08that are Axiom clients.
48:11Axiom sifts all this data
48:12to produce lists
48:13of target consumers
48:14for their clients.
48:15If you're a company,
48:17a bank, a retailer,
48:18what you would do is say
48:19you want left-handed people
48:21of a certain ethnic group,
48:22and they're going to be able
48:23to do a list for you.
48:25You can get marketing lists
48:26of Hispanics who make
48:27between $20,000 and $40,000
48:29who are U.S. citizens.
48:31You can get marketing lists
48:33of people who suffer
48:34from incontinence
48:35and have bought those kinds
48:36of products in the pharmacy.
48:38You can get all sorts of things
48:40that can be very narrow.
48:42What Axiom is promising
48:43is nothing less
48:44than the solution to clutter.
48:46Send us ads only
48:47for products we really want
48:48and anticipate
48:49just when we will want them.
48:52You can't just now
48:53take an ad and put it on TV
48:55and hope for the best.
48:57You need to get smarter
48:58about your consumers.
48:59You need to understand
49:00their purchasing predisposition.
49:02You need to understand
49:03how they're changing.
49:03You need to understand
49:05more about them.
49:07And that's technology.
49:10Of course,
49:11the prospect of finding
49:12the right audience
49:13at the right time
49:14is irresistible
49:15to politicians as well.
49:16I'd like to welcome everybody
49:18to the grand opening
49:19of the new headquarters
49:20of the Democratic Party
49:22of the United States of America.
49:24In recent years,
49:25both parties have bought data
49:26from Axiom
49:27and companies like it.
49:28The Republicans didn't talk
49:30about how they used it,
49:31but the Democrats did.
49:32But if I want to sit at my desk,
49:34pull up on the screen
49:35in the state of Ohio,
49:36and say,
49:37who in Ohio says
49:38that education's going
49:39to be the number one issue
49:39they're going to vote on,
49:40six seconds later,
49:411.2 million names
49:42will pop up.
49:43I then have the ability
49:44to hit buttons
49:45and do telemarketing
49:45to them immediately
49:46or to send emails
49:47to them immediately,
49:48send direct mail
49:49to them immediately,
49:49or actually send someone
49:50to their door
49:51to talk to them.
49:52This sort of voter profiling,
49:54which both parties use
49:55to chase down swing voters
49:57in the general election,
49:59incorporates behaviors
50:00we don't normally associate
50:01with voting,
50:02like whether you have
50:03caller ID,
50:04a sedan or a hatchback,
50:06or more than one pet.
50:08The thing about narrowcasting
50:09is that it gives politicians
50:11a chance to say things
50:12to some people
50:13they might not want
50:14others to hear.
50:15When you start sending messages
50:17which appeal to sort of,
50:19you know,
50:20white people in pickup trucks,
50:22and then you're also sending messages
50:26to black people in Cleveland,
50:29and it's a qualitatively
50:30different kind of message,
50:32you're really trying to stir,
50:34you're really trying to appeal
50:36to those aspects of people
50:38which sees themselves
50:40as different from each other.
50:41Instead of being Americans,
50:45we're sliced into
50:4670 demographic groups.
50:48We might be sliced
50:48into hundreds of subcategories
50:50under that.
50:53And then the worry is
50:55that we don't share anything
50:56as a people.
51:00The result is
51:06living in a society
51:07where people,
51:09rather than having an idea
51:11of the common good,
51:13increasingly
51:13see their own personal well-being
51:18or their own communities
51:19or ethnicities' well-being
51:22as the essential issue
51:23of democracy.
51:26Sorted and sifted,
51:28we slip easily
51:29into our demographic tribes.
51:31Each of us focused
51:32on our own list
51:33of needs and desires.
51:35Which, after all,
51:37is exactly the way marketers want it.
51:39Because as long as
51:40we're thinking about ourselves,
51:42we're better consumers.
51:44Take a look at
51:45advertisements, per se.
51:47What is their ideology?
51:48What is their message?
51:49What do they value?
51:50What do they ask of us?
51:52We see you.
51:53There's no limit
51:54to what you can accomplish.
51:56Commercials say to us,
51:57endlessly,
51:58you come first.
52:00Any way you want it.
52:01You are the focus of attention.
52:03You matter.
52:04An army of one.
52:05Because you're worth it.
52:07The persuaders listen to us
52:10when others won't
52:11and tell us we can be
52:12anything we want to be.
52:14Best of all,
52:16they make us feel powerful.
52:17The consumer is now
52:18in total control.
52:19I mean, she can go home,
52:20she's going to decide
52:21when she buys,
52:22what she buys,
52:22where she buys,
52:23how she buys.
52:24All the fear's gone
52:26and all the control
52:27has passed over
52:27to the consumer.
52:29It's a good thing.
52:30It was near the end
52:44of my tour
52:45through the landscape
52:46of persuasion
52:47that I came to realize
52:48how the problem of clutter
52:50finally gets solved.
52:52Marketers find a way
52:53so deep inside each one of us
52:55that it no longer feels
52:57like persuasion at all.
53:00Maybe we are in control.
53:02Once the market
53:03becomes the lens
53:04through which we choose
53:05to see the world,
53:06then there's no us
53:07and them anymore.
53:08We're all persuaders.
53:14The secret of it all,
53:16the secret of all persuasion
53:19is to induce the person
53:21to persuade himself.
53:23Everything will always
53:24be all right
53:25when we go shopping.
53:27Well, you know
53:29that it's going to be all right.
53:31I think it's going to be
53:32all right, all right.
53:34Everything will always
53:36be all right
53:37when we go shopping.
53:39Since this program
53:49first aired,
53:50Delta Airlines filed
53:52for bankruptcy protection
53:53and disbanded
53:54its discount carrier, Song.
53:56Now Delta is trying
53:57to rebuff a takeover bid
53:59by U.S. Air.
54:09Next time on Frontline...
54:13Fat doesn't necessarily
54:14make us fat.
54:15What's the point
54:15of looking thin
54:16in a casket?
54:17I say hi,
54:19you say no,
54:21you say why,
54:24and I say I don't know.
54:28Which diets fail?
54:29You say goodbye,
54:31and which ones work?
54:32You say hello,
54:33you say goodbye,
54:33Frontline gets the skinny
54:35on the diet wars.
54:37I don't know why
54:38you say goodbye.
54:39Frontline's The Persuaders
54:45is available on
54:46videocassette or DVD.
54:48To order,
54:49call PBS Home Video
54:50at 1-800-PLAY-PBS.
54:53Live at the Dr. Norris
55:00and the DCian
55:02and next time to
55:03under Samuel
55:04and that's the
55:04showdown Mighty
55:05and Noon
55:05at the 2-800-PLAY-PBS,
55:07and the next time to
55:07public Lancer
55:09isresser.
55:09He can strengthen
55:11them.
55:12The that is real,
55:12I say mushy,
55:12en black DNA
55:13became a
55:14native family,
55:14and the
55:16university180-ZZJ.