Are You Marketing Savvy or Saturated?
Posted Mar 08 in Uncategorized tagged marketing savvy, Seligman
Younger people (say 13 to 25ish) are not necessarily a marketing savvy segment, but they are marketing saturated. They have grown up in an environment where brands have infiltrated many aspects of their lives, and image is everything. They have never experienced a time when brands were largely constrained to TV and the shop shelf. Brands these days (are a welcome) sponsor (of) all aspects of their lives.
To say youth are marketing savvy is potentially wrong. Savvy implies they understand the marketing process and use it to their advantage. With society experiencing growing rates of youth debt and psychological issues, it seems to me the time is ripe to redefine what marketing savvy actually means. I suggest:
Marketing savvy people are those that know how to consume brands (and marketing) in a way that makes them genuinely happy.
They can understand when brands offer false promises, verses those that make life better. They may know the work of Hsee and Tsai, as well as all the work of Seligman and others. Perhaps not directly, but at least they understand the principles of how their consumer behaviour links to their own happiness. Being savvy means you understand something and can make it work for you. In truth it has less to do with age than it does a willingness to examine your own behaviour. However, growing up in a marketing saturated society makes this harder than ever before.
I would like to know do you feel like you are marketing savvy? Do you feel like you make consumer decisions that make you happy? Or do you feel like your just marketing saturated? Or neither or both?
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.
Comments
Katie Harris
Mar 9th, 2009What an interesting post!
I agree that perhaps there’s a bit more saturation than savviness going on. Actually, this is something I think about more and more as my kids get older.
We’re beginning to have some discussions about marketing and advertising and how it works with our 5.5 yr old. Marketing Savviness 101.
Do I feel like I’m market savvy?
Sometimes yes*, sometimes no. And sometimes only in retrospect.
Anonymous
Mar 9th, 2009I am happy with what I buy. I know why I do and what it means.
Daniel Oyston
Mar 9th, 2009Aaah Fritz, I hate it when I disagree with one of my favourite posts. I can’t say I agree with them being “marketing savvy”. Instead I would suggest that they are “consumer happy” of “happy consumers”. Mmm, that doesn’t quite sound right.
If we return to what the definition of marketing is then these guys can’t be “marketing savvy” because it is the companies that develop the offering/marketing for them to consume.
However, agree with you that they are much more “savvy” … I am just not sure where to best apply the word “savvy”.
Fritz Bachen
Mar 10th, 2009Katie, thanks. I agree it makes me think about marketing in a different light. Daniel – your comment is difficult to understand but how about we call it ‘Consumer Savvy’?
Daniel Oyston
Mar 10th, 2009@Fritz, what I was trying to say is that maketing is what companies do so I don’t see how you can say that consumers are marketing savvy.
I put some more thought into it and I think that we should say that they are “communication savvy”. That is, you can’t just market to them the traditional way as they use technology and communicate in a more sophisticated and savvy way.
jhwinfield
Mar 13th, 2009Great post Fritz.
Something of interest I read recently was Daniel Miller’s ‘Theory of Shopping’. In this he discusses how people can come to experience all of their spending activities as, in fact, wholly saving activities – when their spending is largely in response to money saving offers or deals. Despite the fact these consumers feel genuinely happy (‘Look what I saved!’ vs ‘Look what I spent!’), I wouldn’t say that these consumers are marketing savvy– in fact I’d argue that it’s the marketing itself which what makes them feel marketing savvy. The sense of ‘one-up-man-ship’ is rather backwards.
If we all considered our (weighty) emotional forces and real material needs more effectively, we’d all go up a few savvy notches when consuming.
I think it helps massively to work in the industry (be marketing saturated), and have a mindset wired up to what brands try to achieve in your psyche. I try to only choose those brands which honestly resonate with who I am/who I want to be, and this helps me feel savvy.
Fritz Bachen
Mar 15th, 2009Thanks Jenny. Im not sure if working in the industry makes people more savvy, or indeed just more marketing saturated. Will dig out the reference you mention – sounds interesting.
Anonymous
Nov 11th, 2009Buy Generic Tamiflu Online. Order Generic Medication In own Pharmacy. Buy Pills Central.
[url=http://buypillscentral.com/]Order Best Viagra, Cialis, Levitra, Tamiflu[/url]. rx generic drugs. Discount medications pharmacy
Dean
Jul 30th, 2010greetings to all.
I would first like to thank the writers of this blog by sharing information, a few years ago I read a book called Real Estate Investment costa rica in this book deal with questions like this one.
niz
Aug 18th, 2010Hello .. firstly I would like to send greetings to all readers. After this, I recognize the content so interesting about this article. For me personally I liked all the information. I would like to know of cases like this more often. In my personal experience I might mention a book called Generic Viagra in this book that I mentioned have very interesting topics, and also you have much to do with the main theme of this article.
generic viagra
May 19th, 2011I think that there is a market for every person, gender, age, etc.
vibradores
Jul 17th, 2011I consider everyone must read this.
www.castellon-3d.com
Oct 8th, 2011Hey, there is a great deal of effective info above!
discount viagra
Oct 28th, 2011this post really very good and effective for me thanks for sharing this nice post
Trackbacks and Pingbacks
Leave a Comment