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I gotta be honest: being at home has its very own advantages. One of them is that you have plenty of time for doing nothing else than just thinking. Ok, one might say that this isn´t a real advantage at all, but sometimes I really do have some brilliant moments.

Staying at the couch, holding the remote in my hand and zapping the hilarious tv channels – one after the other – is very inspiring. Especially when it comes to tv commercials.

What came into my mind today is he fact that  I cannot identify with any of those fun loving and trend setting brands that rule your life. Rule? Why do I use this strong term? Pretty easy to explain: aren´t we consumer victims? Aren´t we forced to buy all those things that make life easier, faster, more comfortable? Don´t we long for the moment when we can unpack a technical device that we have  been waiting for: a new computer, a new iPod, a brand new coffee machine. Don´t we feel the need to buy all those things that promise to be fun and trend setting? By watching ads, don´t we think that we truly need all these products for having a complete fulfillment and for having a better life?

Critics might say now: „Well, of course, that´s the aim of advertising. It aims at hidden needs of consumers – it is supposed to create this feeling deep inside all consumers. The key to resistance is to be aware of this fact and to ignore this hidden commercial messages. Intelligent people are able to resist to that fierce consumption hype by being aware of all those psychological mind games developed by highly qualified brand communicators and marketers.“

Honestly, this is not easy at all. Unfortunately, marketers are well trained and educated people that can work effectively by using psychological effects reaching everything inside a consumer – whether he is aware of it or not. Even the fact of trying to ignore ads is a way of dealing with the ad or with the product. And that is exactly what advertising is about: dealing with it, judging products and brands, identifying with it or not, having an opinion of it, discussing it. The result: the product or the brand is a well discussed issue, it´s becoming popular and well known – no matter whether the product is good or bad. That´s public relations.

And even the fact that I made up my mind with a brand building and product marketing shows that marketers did a good job. They made me think about some products and they can be sure that those will stay in my mind for quite a long time. Congrats.