For
decades, society has pushed toward an atmosphere where perceptions
and conceptions are delayed until learning more. Where prejudice
and stereotypes are "bad" and "wrong, or among those more
educated, "ill-conceived".
The
only forum where the philosophy of preconception is fostered
is in the marketing industry. Branding is about creating and
managing stereotypes. By aligning yourself with the right
brands, you can develop a personality, a set of well-defined
criteria that determine how you are perceived by others.
Brands
allow you to mix and match, like a paper doll, to create the
persona you desire. Whether that persona has any basis in
reality is suspect.
I
often wonder what my personality is based on the data collected
on my AirMiles card. Or my Canadian Tire Options Mastercard.
And what my use of these cards have on my perceived persona.
I
suppose my periodic use of my AirMiles card has branded me
as Flighty. I'm interested in saving money to a certain degree,
based on the number of sale items I've bought on it. However,
my use has been sporadic. Were they to see the purchases I
made without the card, they might see that I started shopping
at A&P when we purchased a home, instead of shopping at
Loblaws where the aisles are nicer but the food is more pricey.
Then I stopped shopping at A&P when I lost my job... to
shop at the Food Basics, where the shopping is even cheaper.
I can't imagine that they assume that I still do most of my
shopping at A&P, and that I'm existing on a ball of mozzarella
and three boxes of pizza pops every couple months.
Perhaps
they have some greater system that knows the Food Basics doesn't
carry my particular brand of cheese or microwavable pizza-like
pastry. If they did know that, they might realize I'm highly
brand loyal. However, they might just figure I'm there to
take advantage of the sale on pizza pops. for some unknown
reason, they've been on sale 5 out of the last 6 times I picked
them up.
The
marketers may think I'm a healthy eater based on the number
of vegetables I purchase. However, more than 3/4 are consumed
by our rabbits and guinea pigs, and the others veggies generally
go bad in the fridge.
I
wonder if there are people who make conscious decisions on
when to use their loyalty cards just to confuse the marketers.
I know my standard was to provide false information for store
savings cards. Lied about my age, my income, my gender...
to throw the data off. They must have thought there was a
very kind guy who bought his female companion's personal hygiene
products.
kat@adchick.com |