Consumption Junction

“You would be amazed to find how often we mislead ourselves, regardless of how smart we think we are, when we attempt to explain why we are behaving the way we do,” Dichter observed in 1960, in his book “The Strategy of Desire”. He held that marketplace decisions are driven by emotions and subconscious whims and fears, and often have little to do with the product itself. Trained as a psychoanalyst, Dichter saw human motivation as an “iceberg”, with two-thirds hidden from view, even to the decision-maker. “What people actually spend their money on in most instances are psychological differences, illusory brand images,” he explained.

At a time when national companies were aggressively jockeying for position among Americans—a suddenly cash-happy and acquisitive bunch—Dichter promised a way to influence consumers' brains. If shopping was an emotional minefield, then strategic marketing could be a gold mine for companies.

Between the late 1930s and 1960s Dichter became famous for transforming the fates of businesses such as Procter & Gamble, Exxon, Chrysler, General Mills and DuPont. His insight changed the way hundreds of products were sold, from cars to cake mix. He pioneered research techniques such as the focus group, understood the power of word-of-mouth persuasion and earned startling fees for his theories. By the late 1950s his global business reached an annual turnover of $1m ($8m today), and he enjoyed a reputation as the Freud of the supermarket age.

Native advertising is flourishing across social media, content portals, news properties, video-sharing sites and streaming services. Increased mobile use of these venues has fueled much of the growth, since native ads work best in the content streams that people tend to access on smartphones and tablets, according to a new eMarketer report, “Native Advertising: Difficult to Define, but Definitely Growing.”

Perceptions about what constitutes native advertising are as varied as the ads themselves and the places where they appear. There’s still disagreement over basic terminology such as “native advertising,” “sponsored content” and “branded content.” Some make distinctions among those terms, while others use them interchangeably.

The Pocket Shop is an animated, interactive, portable version of your Etsy shop to help you promote your products on your blog or website.

Now, a German lingerie label has found a way to channel anti-FB feelings and remind people what real emotion is all about.

Blush Berlin (not to be confused with Canadian luxury label Blush) paired up with the ad agency Glow Berlin to create the clever “Don’t Like Love” campaign to promote its bright new spring collection.