Adverts are memes, and usually bad ones
We saw in the section on social structures how most of the things we take for granted are merely sets of memes, specifically sets of memes that fought off their competitors. Political systems compete for our attention, as do religions, songs, fashions, brands and so on, and it is no exaggeration to say that modern society has been built by the most persuasive memes.
The persuasive power of memes is all-important: capitalism relies on convincing consumers to turn their money into goods, democracies hand power to the most attractive liar; and successful organisations rely on convincing people (staff, suppliers etc) to do things in a different way.
So let’s look at persuasion in capitalism. It’s amusing to look back at the wonderfully naive television adverts from the 1950s and 1960s: if you don’t remember them, imagine a man in a suit holding up a can of cat food, saying ‘Buy Kittychow today, it’s delicious!’. The simplest adverts of today, complex pieces of psychological manipulation in comparison, are another example of memetic evolution in action. Just as flowers evolved scent and bright colours to attract pollinators, so adverts and brands have evolved to attract your attention and infest your brain.
But they don't do a very good job of it: most adverts don't get through the filters in the brain so the ad men repeat, repeat, repeat. But that doesn't work either because your brain stops noticing them.
What about social connectors? Can't they carry us past that all-important tipping point? No, they can't. This is another marketing myth.
And what about brands? A brand is nothing more than a memeplex that carries a set of associations around a product. As such, it will be subject to evolution - accidental or intentional - and influence from the memes around it.
But I do have some good news - I have some advice on how to sell in fully exploited markets and some advice on how to build a better advert.
And finally, we pull this together with an extended anecdote on the rise of the personal computer, or how Apple got it right, got it wrong, got it right again and then, well, you get the picture.