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Advertising? Yes, there is. I'm sure you can find numerous reports on its effectiveness.

by edanm 11y ago

TeMPOraL 11y ago
Personally I do suspect it's a multi-level, recursive scam. After all, convincing you that advertising works is itself advertising from the point of view of companies that you'll pay to advertise you (note: unless you are personally going door-to-door and telling people about your product, you're always paying someone; printshops that make your leaflets and posters are a big part of advertising industry). And since so many advertising is dishonest, it stands to reason that advertising of advertising will also often be dishonest. A corollary: I do believe that "metrics" in on-line advertising are a tool for people using them to bullshit themselves into believing their ads work. Even an average college-educated person has zero understanding of statistics, and without it, it's easy to draw any conclusion you like from any dataset.
- cm2012 11y ago
  A high percentage of ad spend is direct, meaning there is measurable sales associated with every dollar spent on ads.
- edanm 11y ago
  I don't know. It kind of sounds to me like you're saying that millions of people over hundreds of years are either running, or falling, for a huge scam. Whereas the alternative is that maybe you're just wrong or misunderstanding of how things work. I'd generally put higher odds on you being wrong, than of an entire field being so completely off base, at least a field as large and well researched as this.
  - TeMPOraL 11y ago
    > I'd generally put higher odds on you being wrong, than of an entire field being so completely off base, at least a field as large and well researched as this. I generally would too. But we know now that it is indeed possible for a very large and "well researched" field to be wrong - just look at the state of soft sciences. A lot of evidence came up recently show that 90% of research in those fields is bullshit (often intentional). It's not beyond realm of possibility that a big part of advertising industry forms a self-contained system of moving money around with zero relation to the real world.
StillBored 11y ago
vs other users of advertisement? Its not that it doesn't "work" its that its an arms race. If your competitor does it, then you will lose if you don't do it as well. So, the size of your marketing department is more related to the size of your competitors department, than any actual effectiveness. Which is another way of reinforcing monopolistic consolidation. A large competitor likely can significantly outspend a smaller one with advertising dollars, which just goes to cement its position in the market.

Advertising? Yes, there is. I'm sure you can find numerous reports on its effectiveness.

by edanm 11y ago

Advertising? Yes, there is. I'm sure you can find numerous reports on its effectiveness.

Personally I do suspect it's a multi-level, recursive scam. After all, convincing you that advertising works is itself advertising from the point of view of companies that you'll pay to advertise you (note: unless you are personally going door-to-door and telling people about your product, you're always paying someone; printshops that make your leaflets and posters are a big part of advertising industry). And since so many advertising is dishonest, it stands to reason that advertising of advertising will also often be dishonest. A corollary: I do believe that "metrics" in on-line advertising are a tool for people using them to bullshit themselves into believing their ads work. Even an average college-educated person has zero understanding of statistics, and without it, it's easy to draw any conclusion you like from any dataset.

cm2012 11y ago
A high percentage of ad spend is direct, meaning there is measurable sales associated with every dollar spent on ads.
edanm 11y ago
I don't know. It kind of sounds to me like you're saying that millions of people over hundreds of years are either running, or falling, for a huge scam. Whereas the alternative is that maybe you're just wrong or misunderstanding of how things work. I'd generally put higher odds on you being wrong, than of an entire field being so completely off base, at least a field as large and well researched as this.
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  > I'd generally put higher odds on you being wrong, than of an entire field being so completely off base, at least a field as large and well researched as this. I generally would too. But we know now that it is indeed possible for a very large and "well researched" field to be wrong - just look at the state of soft sciences. A lot of evidence came up recently show that 90% of research in those fields is bullshit (often intentional). It's not beyond realm of possibility that a big part of advertising industry forms a self-contained system of moving money around with zero relation to the real world.

StillBored 11y ago

vs other users of advertisement? Its not that it doesn't "work" its that its an arms race. If your competitor does it, then you will lose if you don't do it as well. So, the size of your marketing department is more related to the size of your competitors department, than any actual effectiveness. Which is another way of reinforcing monopolistic consolidation. A large competitor likely can significantly outspend a smaller one with advertising dollars, which just goes to cement its position in the market.