How To Be Happy – and How Brands Can Help!

Posted Jan 13 in Uncategorized tagged Affluenza, Bonfire of the Brands, Faris, Happiness, The Happiness Institute

There are a lot of chatter around at the moment about happiness, and in particular the role marketing plays in it. Some marketers are completely deluded, including my old mate Faris Yacob and Jane McGonigal who refers to herself as a Happiness Engineer. There argument is that marketing done right can make people happy. Encouraging people to play games, making life more fun and less boring. Brands should be measured in how much happiness they generate says Faris, because ‘Happiness is the new capital”.

I’ve recently read two other books that have a slightly different view ‘Affluenza’ by Clive Hamilton, and ‘Bonfire of the Brands’. These authors hold a very different view and believe that brands – and our desire for them creates among other things anxiety, depression and a general level of discontent.

However, when you speak to an independent Happiness ‘Expert’ (somewhat unconvincingly called ‘Dr Happy’) he doesn’t mention brands at all. Dr Happy (Tim Sharp) runs ‘The Happiness Institute’ his answer to being happy consists of doing the following (as summarised in a TV interview):

So hear is the exciting bit….

As a marketer ask yourself. How can my brands help people achieve these 5. behaviours. No not just advertise around these themes – but genuinely get people off the couch and participate in the above activities. If Faris and Jane are right, us ‘Happiness Engineers’ can’t just go around making games – we need to understand what makes people happy and ensure that our brands are contributing to these behaviours.

As a consumer ask yourself – ‘Do the brands I consume genuinely make me happier by helping me in some way participate in the above activities?

Warning: Be careful some brands will promise the above (friends, popularity, an active lifestyle, a giving nature) in glossy advertising. You will believe you are getting these things when in fact they wont deliver. Just purchasing a brand that promises you’ll be popular / cool / successful doesn’t make it so. Look for brands that actually practice these behaviours, and encourage you to do so too.

Comments

1. Jacqueline Johns - Your Happy Life Mentor

   Jan 14th, 2009

   Hey Ads,

   I have to agree with the authors!
   Surely the role of a brand is to leave people wanting (ie discontent)? Or how would they sell? If the brands MADE them happy they would feel no need to buy the product!

   Unlike your Dr. Happy, I have no PhD, but I AM The Happiest Person I Know, and share my happiness secrets through my website and books. I found your blog very timely as my business is in need of branding, as we speak!
   Thanks for your marketing tips, which I will take on board, as I don’t yet have the $4Mill necessary to pay an expert such as yourself!

   

2. Tony Thomas

   Jan 14th, 2009

   Nice thought Fritz. Thats a pretty tough brief!

   I had a pretty ‘happy’ experience at university which seems to have ticked all these boxes. It’s interesting though, that education institutions focus mostly on the education rather than the experience.

   There might be an idea in that!

   

3. Fritz Bachen

   Jan 14th, 2009

   Hi Jacque, glad to hear you are the happiest person you know. What an achievment. No offence but I find that kind of self-proclaimed success a little scary, a little Landmark.

   TT you’re right, tough brief – but your company through focusing on social forms of media may already be well on the way.

   On another note – there are lots of emotions and life goals that are as equally important as happiness.

   

4. Zac Martin

   Jan 14th, 2009

   Me thinks it’s not so much a stretch to fit those five factors against the five factors of being cool?

   I read Bonfire of the Brands just last week and have Affluenza sitting on my shelf.

   

5. jemster

   Jan 14th, 2009

   My view would be there is nothing in this world more likely to destroy happiness than marketeers and adfolk trying to make headway with it.

   Happiness is not the Capital. It’s not new: and it aint capital.

   Totally agree. Bonkers

   

6. Anonymous

   Aug 10th, 2010

   "Happiness Engineers"

   Sounds like one of the basic tenets of a Orwell/Huxley rip off novel.

   Jane McGonigal has a video on the TED website (and Ted youtube channel). She is pretty. But Jesus I couldn't believe what she was saying in it. Not like miss universe talking stupid. but yunno, deluded.

   I was showing my friend the Ted channel to show I was not totally dumb like i watch stuff that makes me an intelligent consumerand stuff. We were watching her video, and we kept on watching it because we were expecting her to make some comment that would clarify/give credence to her outlook, so it would suddenly be acceptable to us, so it would make sense so it would click.
   and it kept on going, and she didn't.

   we were both making severe wrinkling of the forehead motions and mouthing 'What planet is she on?'. That is not an exaggeration we were both separate individuals doing this wrinkling thing at the same time. and the mouths. It might have been peer pressure but I don't know… Perhaps our separate repulsion to this proves there is an objective truth.

   She is deluded. Nerdy pretty but deluded. (that sounds sexist me referring to her self worth in terms of her looks, but hey im being honest, I feel it is just a personal taste to comment about THIS PARTICULAR woman in that particular way (something about her and to quote Michael Jackson 'the way she makes me feel'), not a general sexism, and considering the bullshit coming out of her mouth thats all I could say about her that didn't like subtley make me want to puke things I had forgotten eating.

   Note the use of 'subtle' in that last paragraph. She doesn't make me want to puke. She subtly makes me want to puke. Because the world is that bad now.

   Her whole outlook is deluded, and no good can come from it. I hate to speak in absolutes but I think it is true, no good can come from it. In fact not just that, BAD could come from these ideas. I mean "Happiness Engineers" hello?

   

7. xl pharmacy

   Dec 14th, 2011

   In my case when I feel sad , worried or bored , just one thing make me happy , I have to buy something expensive such as an Italian clothe, I think that brands are really important to make the world happy

   

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About Me

Fritz Bachen is a Consumer Psychologist and Founding Partner at Naked Communications. Fritz can be seen, read or heard at; The Gruen Transfer, ABC Radio (Sunday nights), Adnews columnist, as well as The Australian, Cleo, Mumbrella, Shop Till You Drop and so on. He speaks at numerous conferences on marketing, ideas, contemporary culture, and consumer behaviour. Fritz has degress in clinical psychology and commerce (marketing). A registered psychologist and has worked in private practice, forensic settings, advertising (Saatchi & Saatchi) and marketing consultancy (Added Value). He was also state under 12 chess champion on WA, and has a board game called The Analyst selling well in the Benelux countries.

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