Is Persuasion the Answer?

"The Persuaders" is a pretty good documentary by Frontline and PBS in regards to looking inside the advertising industry and what all goes on behind the scenes. From the beginning, I was intriged by the thought of advertising having a "Clutter Crisis" and how every company is constantly competing to be seen over others. Every message that a company makes has to be new and fresh because consumers develop immunities and becomes the back ground noise in everyday life.
I think that in the 90's and early 2000's the idea of emotion and aesthetic were very important, but after watching the full documentary, it is obvious that companies such as Song have flopped really badly in terms of keeping customers. I personally have never heard of Song and have never seen an advertisement by them.

I believe that my generation of people has grown up with the internet at our finger tips, and so companies like Song that focused on commercials on TV have lost customers due to age and generational differences. The biggest advertising force now is what the documentary ended with, which is the idea of making advertisements and commercials entertaining and involving. The idea of web-series and story lines makes the products connect with consumers and makes the buyers interested in the product.
The advertisements of today focus on the personal lives of individuals, using demographics and social media history help guide companies to the perfect consumers for their products. Even today, there are some Youtube creators, such as Safiya Nygaard, who look at their social media accounts and look for advertisements to try their products. Although the creators are not sponsered by the companies, and the items that are picked are totally random, the companies chosen are tested and talked about, causing the companies to benefit from new consumers.

Here is one of Safiya's videos as an example:

With youtubers trying out new products, companies are inadvertantly recieving new customers and getting their advertisement out to the public. With the idea of advertisements being entertaining, this\is one great way in which things sell to the new public of the technological age. 

Everything in life is ultimately driven by emotion, especially advertisements. No one is likely to buy a product that they do not connect with personally. with the internet at our fingertips, companies flop if they do not catch up with trends and the access that their consumers do.

Overall, this documentary was very informative and gave deep insight into the world of advertising which made the film really interesting for me both as an advertiser and a consumer.