| Blog 6: The Persuaders |
I know that I disliked this movie when I first watched it, but after watching it again for the second time...I can honestly say that I sort of enjoy the movie now. Rapaille is an interesting character and really makes me interested in his tactics. However, now I’m regretting my choice of not majoring in psychology if it could potentially help me become a better marketer! I am totally kidding so all my classmates and Professor Walls...please don’t hate me!
RAPAILLE’S 3 STAGE TECHNIQUE
As I mentioned before, Rapaille is a very interesting fellow. He believes that many consumers don’t understand why they act the way that they do, so they try to rationalize their purchases with false explanations. The example he talked about in the movie was about how Manhattaners were buying huge SUVs called Hummers even though they were completely unnecessary. These people were unable to give a clear reasoning why they wanted the Hummer. Rapaille stated that there was a clear disconnect between the reasoning and the purchasing of the Hummer. However, Rapaille belies that there is a mental connection with the products, items, things, etc. that consumers come across. He works hard to find the secret code in our mental highways. Rapaille has developed a 3 stage technique to uncode our connection to brands and products.
STAGE 1: PAST REASON
Rapaille leads a focus group through his first step in breaking the code. This is a question and answer session in which he goes through asking the subjects what they think and how they feel about an idea or product. In this stage, Rapaille is trying to get the subjects to talk about whatever they want because he wants to give them a chance to try to analyze the marketing side of business. The result is that the subjects usually feel happy with themselves because they think they did a good job. Rapaille categorizes this as starting with the cortex. He says that the things the subjects say in this stage is actually irrelevant and that as marketers we should not care about their input. This is merely part of the code-breaking psychology.
STAGE 2: THROUGH EMOTION
The second step that Rapaille leads his group through is a story-telling session. He asks the subjects to tell a story as if their audience was a 5-year-old from another planet. The result is that the subjects completely change the way they think. They are no longer trying to be logical or intelligent; they just want to please a 5-year-old. Rapaille says that at this point most of them think that he is crazy and that they are getting paid to do practically nothing. He claims that this is the psychological breakdown that must happen for them to tap into their core.
STAGE 3: TO THE PRIMAL CORE
The third and final stage that Rapaille leads the focus group in is having them return to their primal, subconscious instincts. To do so, he removes all the chairs in the room, has them lay down, and dims the lights. He wants them to go back to the very first time that they experienced idea or product at hand. Rapaille claims that in order to get the marketing code, he needs to push their reptilian hot buttons. He says that in the semi darkness, the subjects will remember things that they have forgotten for 20 years as they proceed to write about their first experience with the idea or product.
ONE WORD CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
One of the most interesting topics that Rapaille brought up was about how every single word has the power to make a connection to something else in a person’s mind. Rapaille explains that the first time you understand a word...you imprint this word and make a mental connection in the brain. This unconscious connection forces feelings towards a product eventually causing a purchasing decision to take place.
A great example of this in my own life is the original Nintendo game system. When I hear the word “Nintendo” I think of family, hominess, togetherness, and fun. Because I have such positive associations to Nintendo and family lifestyles...I have always been more inclined to buy only Nintendo products. I trust this brand because I feel like I will be getting the whole family togetherness feeling that I look for in a product.
SONG AIRLINES
Song Airlines comes from the parent company Delta Airlines. Song differed greatly in Delta’s services and products in that they had very distinct bright colors, TVs in front of every airplane seat, had very enthusiastic workers trained and hired, offered organic flight foods, and the workers even sang the flight instructions on every flight instead of just talking about the instructions. Although the services seem very promising, I looked up the status of Song Airlines currently and I found that Song Airlines is no longer in existence and actually flew its last flight in mid 2006.
The biggest thing about Song Airlines was that they tried to push and sell a lifestyle/experience. The commercial that they worked on for most of the movie was about how they showed people having a good time, being happy, and running through an open field. At the end of the commercial, brief attributes about Song Airlines are mentioned such as: organic meals, everyday low fares, and dish network satellite TV. Even the advertising in magazines and billboards were hard for people to understand. Sure, they showed happy and smiling faces but it was difficult for consumers to understand that Song was actually an airline service. It was even mentioned in the movie that consumers were responding to the advertisings but they didn’t understand what they were being drawn in for. As you can see, there was a huge problem that consumers couldn’t find and see the point of Song Airlines. By only pushing for an experience, Song suffered greatly and that’s why I believe that Song’s positioning was poorly put together. They should’ve emphasized more of the products and services instead of just a feeling.
Even though Song did not necessarily push for the right things to ensure profits, I thought that Song did very unique things such as hiring workers that were “Song.” They wanted to hire employees that could fit the image and have their consumers feel excited about the product. I also really liked that Song chose such fun colors that resembled air travel such as green, white, and blue. This was smart on their part. |
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I liked Song's brand image but the truth is not all I loved could be a successful brand in the market.
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Name: Tina Bui
Major: Marketing
and Communication Studies
Email: tina.u.bui@gmail.com
Birthday: January 29th, 1988
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posted by
TunabeREAL at 
I liked Song's brand image but the truth is not all I loved could be a successful brand in the market.