Growing up, my Aunt Yoli would always say, “Mijo, you don’t even watch the shows, you just watch the commercials!” I lived for the commercials. I didn’t care about Murder She Wrote, I couldn’t wait for the San Diego Zoo commercial and the the “Where’s the Beef?” lady. What can I say…
Kids are dumb.
Nobody likes commercials. At least not once we grow up. We hate being sold. We simply tolerate commercials as a sort of necessary evil. Until we see that commercial for the new Samsung Galaxy S21 5G. Then we’re all ears. Like most things we hate commercials until they serve our interest. Then we’re all ears. Traditional Mass Media marketing had the unfortunate task of going out to everyone with eyes and ears… once. Hopefully somebody was into it. But Social Media affords advertisers and marketers a platform to not only reach millions of eyes, but to lay in wait, so to speak, until they come around to view your message… And the audience basically asks you to sell to them. That sounded almost creepy, allow me to elaborate.
Take Instagram, for example. Users choose people, brands, and organizations to follow. We curate our own little ecosystem of what we like and unwittingly invite these brands to promote and sell their brands, projects, products and services in order to more accurately and effectively sell to us. In my personal experience, the marketing I see in the form of promoted ads is few and far between. But every athlete, team, celebrity, and brand I follow shares promotional content about what they have going on. The Rock promotes his new autobiographical show, Comedian Sherrod Small promotes an upcoming show, Guy Fieri promotes his new cooking show, competitive eater, Randy Santel promotes a BBQ Food Challenge he’s posting on YouTube, Marvel Studios promotes their new show on Disney+, and a local taco shop promotes their burritos. These are personalities and brands I enjoy and will most likely end up watching and supporting and I don’t get upset or feel bamboozled that they’re selling to me. It is part of the deal. Part of the social (media) contract, as it were. It is how they promote their brand and get us to support their endeavors.
Then there are times when personalities and brands post seemingly benign photos and videos that seem more personal and light… agenda-free.
Other times, personalities we follow will post seemingly benign personal pictures and videos: Joe Rogan shares fan art painting of him and an alien, pop star Sia shares video of a paralyzed dog who’s life changes when she gets wheels to get around, and the Rock shares an adorable video of him playing with his tiny daughter. Some of these may seem to be candid photos to the untrained eye, but they are actually ads. Sia’s is actually a promo for a dog rescue. Joe Rogan seems to be genuinely sharing fanart with fans, and the Rock is sharing a sweet moment. I bring these all up together because whether they’re promoting something or not in the picture or video, they are doing so in an authentic way that is also on-brand. These lead us to feel a connection with them as people and serves to butter us up in a way, so that when they do promote something they have going on, we almost welcome it and are more receptive to whatever they’re selling.
I have supported all of the brands I’ve mentioned above, with the exception of Randy Santel, for years, long before I ever had an Instagram account. But if I’m being honest, their social media presence has created what seems like a personal connection and has strengthened my support for their brands to some extent.
What a sucker, I am!
RC Said What? 