#howthemindworks

TRICKS OF THE TRADE - “Behind the Curtain” 🎪

♠️ - It’s not about what you SEE. ♠️ - It’s about what you DON’T SEE.

The insider world of marketing (by design) is a bit mysterious. Ironicly, even though the industry itself is of a public nature, the true, inner clockwork of marketing is typically an “invite-only” affair. What most people don’t get to see, are all the fascinating bits - the real magic behind the scenes.

Step inside the natural habitat of the marketing industry, and what you will find is a full-on VARIETY SHOW...a completely fascinating production, whose playbill includes a number of different acts, each with their own set of writers, producers, actors, designers, photographers, etc…

Today, we’re giving you a peak behind the curtain - the inside view of one act in particular: ♣️ - “THE MAGIC ACT OF ILLUSION” - ♣️

This aspecet of marketing is all about creating illusions...Think Houdini and his disappearing elephants, or David Copperfield perhaps. A magician’s performance is solely based around the idea of creating a powerful illusion.

In marketing, creating the illusion of something is a key element in the stickiness factor of a product. These clever “illusions” are actually subtle, subliminal messages or visuals, which were carefully crafted and strategically embedded, so although you don’t “see” them, your brain picks up the message and stores it.

Everyday, without realizing it, consumers make purchase decisions based on certain “queues”. These queues are the marketing magician’s hidden tokens, previously filed in your mind and quietly working away, influencing your deductive reasoning about what you like, and what you don’t like.

On average, your brain needs about 5 touch points before settling on a purchase. More often than not, those touch points were all part of a grand act of illusion formed by the marketing and creative magicians, who knew exactly what you wanted to see. On the outside, you as the consumer, were only focused on the product. But in reality, it’s the illusive messages at play, which were working their magic all along… 🎪

Here’s a good visual example, designed by the very creative thinker and talented graphic artist/illustrator, Tang Yau Hoong. His illustrations add a bit of humor to the notion of illusion, cleverly reminding us that “things are not always what they seem...”👀🎩🐇