Selling Cool

The “Merchants of Cool” video was an interesting inside-look at the various ways advertisers attempt to reach young people in America. We learn that advertisers are not only trying to figure out what is cool, but they are also trying to find out the best way to sell this “cool” back to America’s youth. Since “cool” is ever-changing, the challenge is in keeping up with the change. The video shows different tactics used to pick the brains of teenagers and in turn, sell a product in a way they can relate.

In one of the first segments of the video, young people are given pieces of paper with all different types of logos on it. They are to circle the logos that they feel positively about. This is a type of neuromarketing because logos are a way to evoke a certain emotional response from the brain of the target audience. Marketers are always designing logos that are unique, memorable, and call to mind positive feelings. The advertising situation that interested me most was Sprite’s take on reaching an audience. Their perspective was that they needed to become friends with their young audience. They wanted to give teens the impression that “Sprite understands them.” One of the techniques Sprite used to achieve this was something called “under the radar” marketing. This is when they hired young people to pose as fans, throw parties, distribute promotional materials, and to raise hype in general. Eventually, Sprite threw a launch party for their website. They had big names in hip hop come to perform on the Sprite stage right underneath their logo. This was all in the efforts of creating what is called a brand “culture”. The Sprite Corporation was not satisfied with becoming just a marketable product, and aimed at becoming a culture into itself. The video showed that Sprite ultimately considered itself just as important a piece of the hip hop culture as “sneakers or baggy pants”.

As the “Merchants of Cool” video was a bit outdated, the techniques shown in the video as well as new techniques are all around us as advertisers are trying to communicate with us. In giving it some thought, some strange and different techniques advertisers use on audiences come to mind. An interesting one is the neuromarketing technique the clothing store, Abercrombie and Fitch, uses to create its image. While the store is notorious for sexy print ads and billboards, they utilize a less traditional approach as well. The stores spray all their clothing with their perfumes and colognes to the point that the store oozes with fragrance. When consumers in a mall walk by the store front, their attention is drawn to it. The alluring fragrance combined with lively music makes the store a focal point that is hard not to notice. The nose, eyes, and ears sense the sexy, trendy atmosphere which serves as a lure for shoppers who want to be a part of that image.

Another interesting technique that the “Merchants of Cool” video discussed was the method of poking fun at advertising. People tend to be irritated by commercials being shoved in their face, so by mocking it, they make light of it while still pushing the “cool factor” of the product. The video talks about Sprite as the people who first used this tactic, when they showed a famous basketball player overacting and over-pushing Sprite soda. This proved to be successful for a while, until kids started to catch on. This made me think of another case in which this technique was used. The movie, “Wayne’s World”, also uses this clever product placement tactic to promote not just one, but a series of products. Both characters, Wayne and Garth talk about how “people only do things if they get paid, and that’s just really sad”, as they are dripping in logos. It is an extremely comical way to expose people to marketing with out them feeling bombarded by advertisements.



The future of these advertising techniques lies mostly in the internet. The internet is the fastest means of communication, and information can be traded and shared by millions of people. Also, since so much of what we can do online is free, using the internet as a means of advertising can be extremely inexpensive. An example of this fast spreading, cheap advertising, is online videos. Anyone, individuals or big companies can post videos on youtube, myspace, or other websites. They can be motivated by commercial products, political or social causes, and pretty much any other idea under the sun. If it catches people's attention, it can spread like wildfire, and for practically no cost. Below is an example of a viral video advertisement:



In conclusion, I think that many would agree that the future of advertising has everything to do with the world wide web. Whether it's viral videos, pop-up ads, or advertising hidden within games or services, it is probably the fastest and easiest way to reach as many people as possible.