do marketers lie to us too much?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jump to Latest
#166
@wiseoldtech - made it to Berks county w/o hitting a deer, so it's a good day. We align in our thoughts almost completely re: payments and paying interest. I've financed lots of things when the benefit outweighs the costs or when someone wants to give me 'free money'. I was fortunate to have learned from excellent role-models early on in life. We save for what we want. I also **** people off regularly when I ask for a cash discount. Not sure how it is near you, and I'll see how it is around here lately. I haven't been here since January. Back in MN, transparent credit card charges and 'service fees' seem to be added willy nilly to my tabs / receipts. It's irritating. Then <ducks the stones being thrown> I'm seeing more places post that X% is being added for health care etc. to my bill. FFS, just increase the prices and pay your employees. Then, I get the side-eye when I ask if I still need to tip on top of the new fee. <end rant>. I hate tipping culture. Just my weird thing... I tip... usually quite generously, but it goes against all that I believe is correct in a 'system'. Back to the topic at hand for marketing.

@billshurv - thanks for posting some excerpts from the NYT article. It adds more context to what I already knew was happening as a whole during my time there. Totally fascinating, to me, is that it seems to have made such a stink. I remember the topic, I remember talking points being provided, but I don't remember it being a major thing with articles being posted/printed. I was never in marketing though. I hope we're now agreed that it is at least likely that at least one particular 'incident' occurred where someone was caught a bit off guard and possibly perturbed by receiving the ad packages for a family member. Details are unimportant (to me). When I get back to MN, I'll dig around a bit more, but in fairness, the specifics of the young lady (if it happened) aren't too important to me. If you'd like more info ... I can inquire.

I think we're all agreed that in the right hands, with the right mindset, customer / consumer data analytics can be a powerful tool. I think the 'creepy factor' still exists today.

We'd all potentially like to be served up the 'ideal' products when we want them... but it's creepy. We also tend to get pissed off when the algorithm gets it too far off-base. We also see that people might get pissed off when the algorithm gets it dead nuts correct....

It's not enviable to be in a darned if you do - darned if you don't position.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: wiseoldtech
#167
Just for fun, as I roam the internet, I have a nearby TV set on watching my favorite programs.
When a commercial comes on..... one of those Miracle products AKA "As Seen On TV", I check reviews of them online.

And in just about EVERY case, I'd say 99% of the time, I find loads of Negative reviews, Tons of complaints!
Snake Oil!
I'd even bet that any Positive reviews were included by AI/robots.
 
#168
Like the titanium knives not made from titanium that can cut through ice. Nearly always bad products but these ads keep coming and ...people apparently still buy them.

The extremely rich in this world will make good use of AI I bet. One of them objects to AI while turning out to be the owner of an AI company 🙂
 
  • Like
Reactions: wiseoldtech
#169
This is exactly why I'm lucky enough to be content with my older, prior purchases, and vintage stuff.
Which to this day performs just fine.
I've no need to remodel, or "keep up with the Joneses".
Because that's a mad world merry-go-round that I'm not getting on.
 
#170
That is deliberate isolation. A crude measure. Leads to "they don't make them like that anymore" syndrome and therefor widens the gap between generations. Possibly also followed by gathering piles of old stuff.

I see this a lot and it seems to be the standard method. Helped a few times to clean out (everything "valuable" will just go to recycling) and that is quite confronting.
 
#173
ItsAllInMyHead said:
@billshurv I remember the topic, I remember talking points being provided, but I don't remember it being a major thing with articles being posted/printed. I was never in marketing though. I hope we're now agreed that it is at least likely that at least one particular 'incident' occurred where someone was caught a bit off guard and possibly perturbed by receiving the ad packages for a family member.
Click to expand...
It is interesting that this took 10 years to emerge, and mainly because a journalist was trying to push a book on habits. I do remember seeing a program early 2000's on UK TV about similar but it took a while for people to realise they were being mined. It is fascinating what sticks in people's minds and what gets forgotten.
 
#175
There is a TV advert for an electric car made by Audi which claims it can be charged in 31 minutes with a 350kWh charger
I have no idea what that means - surely all chargers can give 350kWh given long enough
Do they mean 350kW? Or 350kWh over 31 minutes?

Brian
 
#176
billshurv said:
It is interesting that this took 10 years to emerge, and mainly because a journalist was trying to push a book on habits. I do remember seeing a program early 2000's on UK TV about similar but it took a while for people to realise they were being mined. It is fascinating what sticks in people's minds and what gets forgotten.
Click to expand...
I was a data / stats type of person, but I hung out more on the product manufacturing side of life. It was my first time working for a retailer after years in manufacturing. It was pretty early on with my time there, and it was a totally different world. So, I remember when being exposed to marketing analytics I was very impressed with what they were doing (and their seemingly bottomless budget). They also let me play with their toys. When I was talking with the team re: what they did... that was a pretty hot topic.

I used their toys and worked with their team to create a model to red-flag QA reports for potential falsification and trigger manual reviews / investigations.

Also, the incident in question did happen. I now have it on better authority than my memory from conversations ~20 years ago and a few articles I've since read. So, in closing, just because you haven't seen evidence, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. No, I will not be posting it. Yes, I fixed that for you. 😉

Also, since I'm on a new IP address in PA and cleared my cookies, now... I read the NYT article. You are very careful in your selection. If I didn't know better, I'd say you're biased. 😉

The NYT article also directly recounts the story and quotes Pole directly in the recounting of the story. You've noted that Target would not allow the reporter access, correct, but I fail to see the relevance.

So, Pole is quoted (and I have not seen a NYT retraction). I know that Target can be VERY persnickety, and if they had grounds for libel / slander or any way to get the author to retract / correct they would have pursued it vigorously. I also have yet another source that would definitely know.

For me, it's put to bed. You may care to pursue more information. If you find anything that contradicts what I now believe to be established fact, please let me know. Enjoyed the chat.
 
#178
wiseoldtech said:
This is exactly why I'm lucky enough to be content with my older, prior purchases, and vintage stuff.
Which to this day performs just fine.
I've no need to remodel, or "keep up with the Joneses".
Because that's a mad world merry-go-round that I'm not getting on.
Click to expand...

True, but when you own a house you have to remodel and fix up I think. I did a whole bunch of stuff to my house last year. It is much more cheerful. Plus I got rid of stuff. My house is now more spacious and comfortable, and easier to clean. I had guys rip out the last of the old overgrown bushes and my buddy came over and power washed my whole house, garage, and all the concrete. Wow! It's like a brand new 60 year old house. People comment all the time. I planted new bushes which I will never allow to get too big.

I didn't change the architecture. We restored most of the beautiful wood (will finish this summer), repaired the plaster walls and ceiling, painted fresh pastel colors, and cleaned everything. We refinished the wooden window frames. My neighbor has the exact same house as me, and she bought it and immediately had a crew come in and rearrange it by removing walls etc and a bunch of other stuff. After seeing my house she said she was sorry she did it.

I have people over a lot. It's important to me that my house is comfortable and inviting. As you get older, it's easy to overlook things (like five year old dust bunnies behind the couch) and having company helps keep you on your toes.

So I hope you're not being a hermit in your house. It's not healthy.
 
#180
jean-paul said:
That is deliberate isolation. A crude measure. Leads to "they don't make them like that anymore" syndrome and therefor widens the gap between generations. Possibly also followed by gathering piles of old stuff.

@Fast Eddie D : "So I hope you're not being a hermit in your house. It's not healthy."
Click to expand...

Please don't get me wrong, or infer that I'm an old "shut-in" codger.

My house was built in 1940, and when I moved in 18 years ago, a good amount of upgrading was already done.
The kitchen, while being a bit dated, has high quality cabinets, etc, that I don't find needing replacement.
Why would I want to replace the 1971 KitchenAid/Hobart dishwasher when it still performs excellently?
Whoever owned it previously spent good money on upgrading the whole house.
In some cases, yes, I've done some upgrading - the bathroom, basement into a workshop, made the small infant/nursery bedroom into an office, the garage into a woodworking shop, the front yard garden hedges were taken out and a garden with perrennials planted, etc.
I've painted and did some wallpapering in rooms too.
And I do keep an eye on any issues, another thread I posted was about repairing the bathroom tub's leaking drain pipe last year.

As mentioned by Eddie D, I'm also scheduled with a good neighbor to have him powerwash my patio and awnings, etc. later this season.
In past years, I've held gatherings/dinners with friends and neighbors which everybody enjoyed.
But with all that work involved, the cooking, etc, I've gotten weary of it, being 70 now.. I want to relax more for health reasons.
Trust me, I'm not a hoarder either.
I do have a nice collection of vintage radios, phonos, collectables, etc., some valuable, in the office room and displayed tastefully around the house.
I hate clutter and junk laying around, but I'm not some obsessive guy who worries over the occasional dust on the coffee table.... it gets cleaned when I get around to it.

Friends have said in jest that it's like a bit of a time-warp when they walk in, but also say that it's cozy and comfortable too.
And that's the way I like it.
I don't need a 4K smart TV, my 2014 "dumb" LED Panasonic flatscreen is just fine.

Bottom line, I don't succumb to marketing and hype, just because it's fed to the consumer continuously.
Because that tends to make people into sheep, makes their mindset controlled by the hype, and always in paying credit card bills.
I'm not against modern devices, but only if the justifiable need is warranted, not driven into your brain by advertising.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jean-paul
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom