Why strategic planners should use Soren Kierkegard more than Roy Morgan - Philosophy is a planning tool

I met up with some advertising people last night and mentioned that I like to use politics, sociology, science, psychology and philosophy when building strategies, and one guy choked his free wine! "Philosophy!!!??" He thought that was a stupid idea considering how stupid "people" are.

Hmmm.

After reading the fabulous and interesting little book "adland" by James P Othmer and getting more and more experience from advertising (people, culture, projects) I certainly feel there is room for improvement in the way the industry connect brands and customers, and the improvement will happen in the area of respect. When you respect people your campaigns will no longer be idea driven, but driven by strategy and insights.

When we as strategists go beyond the dull and stiff Roy Morgan and Radian6 data and stop being stuck to models, we can see people as the beautiful and mysterious individuals they are. I believe a lot of ad staff feel guilt because they are selling stuff, and maybe they feel they are manipulating the market into getting more things they don´t need. 

I believe the relationship between brands and buyers can be loving and meaningful, and I like to see myself as a cupid for brands, shooting arrows that brings people and things together. When you truly understand people and their needs you will discover a place where a product or service will satisfy a deep yerning, and when doing so changing people´s lives. 

"Using philosopy" doesn´t mean I will suggest ads with pretentious complicated messages, but that you use the insights and revalations the great thinkers through time has revealed. For example, existentialism and great minds like Kierkegard and Sartre can bring us a deep feeling for the fears of freedom.

This little study is interesting and related. Let people meet, not brands and consumers. It´s people. Like you and me.

"While consumers find lots of advertising annoying, they actually like posters displayed in malls -- especially if it is a photo that includes a human face. A new study from EYE, a mall media specialist, found that even the second time shoppers passed a display, 47.8% took a second look. To some degree, everybody looked at the ads and there didn't seem to be any fatigue, which means having multiple placements in the mall makes good sense for raising brand awareness." http://www.eyecorp.com.au/

Also Mindlab conducts eye tracking studies linked to EEG brain activity. In all of our their studies it's clear that people look at faces. www.themindlab.co.uk