You ask what is ADD?
A is for Art;
D is for Distraction;
D is for Deception.
Yes, marketing is an art and many that are in the business know that things are not what are actually are. Add it up and you will see.
Marketing, as a science, was created in the early 1900s to build the idea of consumption or usage of a product, service or idea that did not exist prior to their introduction into the market. How to get someone to buy something that they don't understand or need was the main target of the process of marketing.
It is psychology and sociology rolled into a scientific approach to get someone to act. There are other components involved such as Advertising and Sales to build the image and to push the final version into the market; the troops of salespeople doing the final deal with the buyers.
Can marketing be truthful and honest? Yes, it can! Then why is not used in that way? The buyer would not buy if the truth was totally revealed while many industries would also not exist if that was the case. The other matter is that the consumer is not well educated in many areas of products and services on offer so that the possibilities of deception are obvious.
Lets take a few examples of products:
McDonald's Hamburger
Kellogg's Corn Flakes Cereal
Some of the burgers are marketed as 100% beef. The question is, 100% of what? The total patty is 100% beef or the patty contains 100% beef? In addition, what is the beef actually? Is it fresh, clean and pure? What are the other elements that make up the patty? It would seem that the [true] amount is actually 15% [beef], whereas the remaining 85% are other components and fillers; and that the [beef] is not an original ground beef but actually chemically washed, old meat with added colors, flavors and chemicals.
Lets move onto good old corn flakes.... A box of dried, healthy corn with lots of vitamins and minerals...yes? Fast, convenient and healthy is the image of the marketing campaign. What is it actually? One cob of dead, dried (GMO) corn with fillers, colors, sweeteners, and chemicals formed into flakes. Vitamins must be added for there would be no value at all if they were not. Is this really what it is marketed as?
Lets think about the true cost of fast, easy, convenient, so called healthily marketed [processed and packaged] foods vs the real thing. A box of some 400 grams costs approximately $6 dollars/38 RMB. That would be $15/95 per kilogram of flakes. At least in China, fresh foods such as vegetables, fruit, rice, meat etc one could buy many kilos of each fresh item, with the exclusion of meat, for the same value that would last many more days (week) and would be healthier compared to the flakes. The mark up costs of the corn [flakes] are massive compared to their fresher counterparts. Again, what is the TRUE cost?
Health;
Insurance;
Medial costs;
Time working (to buy overpriced flakes and burgers).
Is it convenient working 10-12 hours per day, 6 days a week to buy convenient flakes, Starbucks coffee, buying medical insurance and paying for doctors and pharmaceutical drugs? Is it beneficial to me if my health is becoming poorer and I spend more time ill and burned out? What is the true cost? You see, if you really added up the true costs of marketing ADD you would find that life could be much better, more relaxing, profitable and rewarding if you knew what they are actually doing...distracting and deceiving.
Yes...positive, truthful, constructive and beneficial marketing of products and services are possible...there just will be a lot fewer on offer.
ADD it up....
I don't know about you...I would rather be healthier, be honest and truthful, work less and save more, and live a happier life.
