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Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics In Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shiny Pennies & Google Bill MacConnel January 27, 2017

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Page 1: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics In Advertising:

B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shiny Pennies &

GoogleBill MacConnelJanuary 27, 2017

Page 2: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Operant Conditioning:

Skinnerian Skinnerian Operant Conditioning.

When behavior is followed by a positive outcome.

If the consequences are good, the actions that led to it being repeated become more probable. Click Clip the coupon

Call 1-800

Page 3: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Operant Conditioning:

+ Low hanging Fruit From the Happiness Tree Very evident in social media; helped along with

a rewarding oxytocin payload, as your selfish and ego blow up on Instagram or Facebook.

The same chemical released when a mother bonds with a child, you make money, have a great meal, pleasurable activities.

…and saving money through clipping coupons, clicking, and calling 1-800 releases the feel-good brain chemical Dopamine.

Page 4: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Objective Provide an overview of the

psychological practices co-opted by advertising and used as tactics by both General and Direct Response advertisers.

Page 5: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Of Two Minds. One Goal:

Persuade us to buy

Page 6: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Approach A look at two iconic and wildly successful

campaigns from the past firmly rooted in psychoanalytic and Skinnerian tactics.

Direct advertising- Columbia House Record Club. 1955-2000

General advertising – American Tobacco/Lucky Strike. 1929 single event.

Page 7: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Two Approaches: One Major Distinction

The difference between Direct and General advertising is interaction with the message. Direct requires immediate physical action; call, clip, click… general does not.

Direct Response- communication constructed to require the customers immediate participation.

General- communication to create ongoing emotional awareness and engagement with the brand.

Page 8: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Different Creative Approaches:

Direct

Action predicates compelling and correct target audience incentive. Could care less about being trendy, hip, or cool. The proud nerd of advertising before nerds existed. It’s all about measurable results.

Page 9: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Different Creative Approaches:

General

Creative is king. Striving to hit that sweet spot where we find a poignant reflection of ourselves in the brand.

“Get a Mac” 2006 TBWA Media Arts Lab

Page 10: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Different Creative & Strategic Approaches:

Two Industry Pioneers

Lester Wunderman PC guy

Jay Chiat Mac guy

Page 11: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Lost in the Code 21st-century ad industry focus is on

algorithms and big data. The co-opted role Psychology plays in

sustaining mass consumerism is overlooked. Specifically- B.F. Skinner's techniques

applied in Direct Response and Sigmund Freud’s theories used for General Advertising.

Page 12: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Math +Understanding the Unconscious=Engineering Desire

Now equal parts math and persuasion; algorithms and data, in a powerful alliance with Freudian and Skinnerian methods.

Advertising has emerged as one of the most sophisticated businesses. Based on a model that was envisioned and presented at MIT 40 years ago by industry pioneer Lester Wunderman.

Page 13: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

“ System of interactive transactions that would restore a measure of dialogue and human scale to the way we made, sold, and bought things.”

-Lester Wunderman

MIT 1961

Page 14: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Lester’s Landscape With Amazon and Facebook part of the mix,

advertising has formed into the system Wunderman envisioned in 1961.

Moving beyond the envisioned human scale and flirting with the monolithic.

Page 15: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Direct Vs. General

Skinnerian approach

• Operant conditioning• Click the Google ad and

save!• Clip coupon and save!• Call 1-800 number now!• Press the button to like a

brand

Freudian approach

• Understanding unconscious desire.

• Inadequacy• Fear• Love• Sex• Validation among peers:

real, imagined, or desired.

Direct General

A discussion best left for another day; Social media firmly anchored in operant conditioning. With the perplexing, and the often troubling element of personal profiles, and shared photos: more polished, contrived, and unblemished than the brand's advertised inches away. People aren't brands. Don't buy it.

Page 16: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Direct Vs. General

Skinnerian approach • Immediate.• Counter intuitively; a more

personal advertising experience.

• Accountability driven by highly sophisticated and immediate metrics.

• Click, Click, Click.

Freudian approach • Ongoing.• Emotional acceptance.• Image focused. • Highly creative effort to

subvert the rational mind with the emotional.

Direct General

Page 17: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Direct Response:Skinnerian

Skinnerian Operant Conditioning. when behavior is followed by a positive

outcome.

If the consequences are good, actions leading to repeated engagement become more probable.

Page 18: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Direct Response:Skinnerian

Behavior triggered by a call to action with an incentive:

Call 1-800 now! and save! A tactic invented by Lester Wunderman.

Clip coupon 15% discount. Click Google ad for savings. Click button to validate and be validated. Like me, I’ll like you.

Page 19: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

For Just One Shinny Penny!

Columbia House Record Club Direct Response Industry pioneer, Lester

Wunderman, developed the concept of the Columbia House Record Club.

“One penny” for 13 records! Tape a penny to the order form. Stamps of desired albums selected and removed

from master sheet. Lick and attach to order form. Mail to Columbia House records.

Page 20: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

For Just One Penny!Columbia House Record Club

Page 21: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Operant ConditioningColumbia House Record Club

All carefully thought out steps in a method to place the consumer in a more active and personal role in the advertising process.

The opposite of General advertisings pushed effort towards emotional acceptance and image making.

Page 22: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

The Skinnerian Record Club

Again, the ad asks the consumer to tape a penny to the postcard, in addition to tearing out stamps of the desired albums, licking the stamps, and placing them, along with the penny, attaching to an order form, and mailing to Columbia House records.

Page 23: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

How Did They Make Money?

Giving away all those albums for a penny, how was money made?

Negative option billing model. The customer agreed to have the “monthly club selection” mailed to them unless they specifically declined it prior to the billing cycle.

A practice used extensively today. Netflix Low monthly repeating costs for apps that

can quickly add up.

Page 24: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

How Did They Make Money?

Also kept bill collectors busy, tracking down 14-year old gangster’s in the Midwest; taking the music loot, and stiffing Columbia House.

Perhaps the fine print wasn’t read by kids, or, like today, anybody.

A questionable business model built on converting complacency into profit.

Canadian Parliament tried to outlaw it in 1996, and in October of 2016, the practice led to the FCC fining Comcast $2.3mm.

Page 25: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Working For The Google Man

40-years after Wunderman’s MIT lecture, technology caught up with his vision.

In 2002, with Google Adwords overhauled, and cost-per-click pricing in place, the “system of interactive transactions that would restore a measure of dialogue and human scale to the way we made, sold, and bought things” arrived.

Page 26: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

More, Lester “People, products and services are

all seeking an individual entity. Taste, desire, ambition and lifestyle have made shopping once again a form of personal expression”

Lecture at MIT on October 1,1961, introducing the concept of modern “Direct Marketing”.

Page 27: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Feed me Your Personal Data,

Say’s the Google Machine

Operating brother Jeddah’s hot type press?

what’s the alternative?

Page 28: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Feed me Your Personal Data,

Say’s the Google Machine

To navigate through modern life, even at the most basic level, we weigh our limited options and comply.

Page 29: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

No Pennies RequiredJust Your Personal Data

A call to action for clicking on a Google ad remains anchored in the same basic Skinnerian concept, though certainly less labor intensive as those developed by Wunderman for Columbia House records.

With the specificity of results improving; in tandem with sophistication, interpretation, and implementation of data.

Allowing for anticipating desired consumer intent, and the “reward” motivation to convert intent into action.

Page 30: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

No Pennies RequiredJust Your Personal Data

Clicks are more likely to be repeated as the ad experience becomes more personal.

Counter-intuitively; through math, machine, and data.

…and perfected operant conditioning will remain just a click away.

Page 31: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

General Advertising

1984 Apple Computer/ad by

Chiat/Day

Page 32: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

General Advertising Freudian

General advertising has co-opted a Freudian Psychoanalytic approach.

Understanding humans, at heart, are irrational creatures, driven by unconscious desires of power, sex, and longing for worth in the eyes of their peers.

Emotional appeal wins over rational thought.

Page 33: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

General AdvertisingFreudian

Freudian psychoanalytic insight to affect the outcome of the unconscious struggle between Id and Super-ego.

Opening a receptive path for desire over reason by way of symbols and emotional appeal.

Leading to what is often called the pleasure principle…

… down the path of, “Inventing Desire”, the title of Karen Stabiner’s 1993 book about general advertising maverick, Jay Chiat, and his agency, Chiat/Day.

Page 34: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

General Advertising Freudian

Edward Bernays was the first to use Freudian Psychoanalytic techniques in advertising and was the nephew of Sigmund Freud.

Understanding that the unconscious makes links between symbols and desires.

Page 35: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

General Advertising Freudian

Front row and center, and a clear understanding of how to utilize Freudian psychoanalytic techniques.

Bernays co-opted the methods into what he called "the engineering of consent." most famously in his “Torches of Freedom” campaign.

His successful effort to persuade women to smoke.

Page 36: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Torches of FreedomSmoking as a Feminist Act

Page 37: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

General Advertising Freudian

After being assured by the psychoanalyst, A.A. Brill, that, indeed, it was “normal” for women to smoke, you got it… “Oral fixation”…Bernays was confident to proceed.

Oy, Psychoanalysts, oy, Mad Men. Cigarettes presented to women as a symbol

of equality with men.

Page 38: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

General Advertising Freudian

With Bernays paying models to smoke as they walked in the New York Easter parade; defiantly smoking in public, en masse, shocking, and never seen before.

Presenting smoking as a protest for equality. The campaign was wildly successful,

increasing Lucky Strikes market share by 200%.

Page 39: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

General Advertising Freudian

Turning rebellion into money, as the late poet Joe Strummer sang.

Bank for lucky Strike, Bernays, and Freud.

Cancer for Bernays wife, and deep lingering regret for Bernays.

Page 40: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Percent of Cigarette Purchases By women

1923

1929

1935

1977

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

5%

12%

18%

33%

Torches of Freedom- single event. Easter 1929.

Purchase by women remained around 33% post ’77, though declining over the last decade, in parallel with overall U.S. smoking trends; with awareness, cost, and availability reducing use.

Page 41: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Beyond Metrics The success of Berneys campaign of

positioning smoking as a defiant feminist act, transcends simple numerical measurement.

It became the go-to creative and strategic tactic for reaching women.

A multi – generational manipulation that directly caused death, wrecked families, and burdened the health care system, which continues today on all fronts.

Page 42: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Beyond Metrics

Cancer, all about gender equality; sickness and death for feminists, women and the patriarchy alike.

Page 43: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Beyond Metrics

Can you imagine the altered world history had psychology not been co-opted by Bernays? Or women buying into the cynical message.

Or if Google, could unleash their deep bench of talent and technology into a campaign to reverse it?

Suddenly that self-imposed metric of all metrics “making the world a better Place”

Would move from punch line to life changing reality.

Page 44: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Google Monolith Advertising

Advertising terminology often overlaps. “Branding” is often interchangeable with

“General” Google is taking the weakness of Direct, or

more fairly; qualified unconcern; creative that didn't’t need to reach the soaring heights needed for a successful branding campaign.

Improving it, and leveraging the big data and analytics of Direct, into a digital hybrid of both.

Page 45: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Bringing it All Together:

Page 46: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Merging Direct and General

“In all my years with DoubleClick and Google, we've never been closer to the ultimate promise of brand advertising in the digital age: to efficiently and effectively run highly relevant, creative, responsive and measurable brand campaigns,”

-Sean Downey Managing Director, Americas Platform Solutions & Innovation, DoubleClick

Page 47: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

General + DR =Best of BothA Programmatic Path to The

Future Combining strong creative associated

with General/brand with deep audience insights and analytical tools associated with Direct Response.

1. Organize audience insights2. Design compelling creative3. Execute with integrated technology4. Reach audiences across screens 5. Measure impact

Page 48: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Programmatic Path Forward

Programmatic isn’t just efficient media buying- it also helps craft more sophisticated and targeted campaigns. Keeping with the latest analytics and case studies on real time bidding; connecting consumers to mircomoments.

Page 49: Operant Conditioning and Psychoanalytic Tactics in Advertising: B.F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, Shinny Pennies & Google

Programmatic Path Forward

The path forward; a remarkably potent mix including the psychology of old; though reaching beyond operant into a profound understanding of motivation via oxytocin and dopamine payloads.

All beautifully dovetailing and supercharging it into helping personalize mass reach; into a tool of remarkable digital brand building.

And the future…