Rory Sutherland: Life Lessons from an ad man

Summary

El transcripto muestra una charla que aborda la creación de valor intangible en la publicidad y cómo esto puede ser una alternativa sustituta a los bienes materiales. El orador utiliza ejemplos como el de un tren de Londres a París, la percepción de los placebos y la historia de la introducción de la papa en Prusia para ilustrar cómo cambiar la percepción puede ser más efectivo que intentar cambiar la realidad. También menciona el uso de tecnologías persuasivas y la importancia de apreciar lo que ya se tiene, en lugar de siempre buscar algo nuevo.

Takeaways

• 📈 La creación de valor intangible o valor percibido en la publicidad es importante y a menudo subestimada.
• 🌐 En un futuro con menos bienes materiales, el valor intangible puede constituir una parte más importante del valor total.
• 🚂 Un ejemplo de cómo la percepción puede mejorar la experiencia, como el viaje en tren de Londres a París, donde el valor agregado fue a través de la experiencia en lugar de acortar el tiempo del viaje.
• 💰 Los placebos son una herramienta poderosa ya que funcionan a menudo mejor que tratamientos reales sin efectos secundarios.
• 🎓 La educación no solo se trata de enseñar cosas, sino de brindar la impresión de una educación buena, lo que puede llevar a una mayor confianza y éxito.
• 🥔 El rebranding del patata en Prusia por Federico el Grande es un ejemplo maestro de cómo cambiar la percepción puede influir en el éxito de un producto.
• 👑 El valor es relativo y percibido; la persuasión a menudo es más eficaz que la compulsión.
• 😀 Los signos de velocidad con emoticonos demuestran cómo los pequeños cambios en la comunicación pueden tener un gran impacto en el comportamiento.
• 🚗 La idea de que los conductores de Porsche fueran criminales es una solución creativa a un problema social, mostrando la importancia de la lateralidad en la resolución de problemas.
• 💍 En tiempos de guerra, el joyero de hierro se convirtió en un símbolo de estatus en Prusia, mostrando cómo el valor simbólico puede ser más importante que el valor intrínseco.
• 👖 El denim es un ejemplo perfecto de un producto que reemplaza el valor material por el valor simbólico.
• 🌱 La valoración de cosas como la salud, el amor y la sexualidad, y aprender a dar valor material a lo que antes se subestimaba, puede hacernos conscientes de que somos mucho más ricos de lo que imaginábamos.

Q & A

¿Qué sugiere el orador sobre el valor intangible en la publicidad?

El orador sugiere que el valor intangible, como el valor percibido o el valor de marca, a menudo es subestimado y criticado negativamente, pero es crucial, especialmente si queremos reducir el consumo de bienes materiales y aún así mantener o mejorar nuestra calidad de vida.

¿Cómo propone mejorar el viaje en tren de Londres a París?

En lugar de gastar miles de millones en infraestructura para reducir el tiempo de viaje, sugiere emplear modelos y ofrecer champán gratis durante el viaje, lo que mejoraría la experiencia sin necesidad de un cambio físico significativo y a un costo mucho menor.

¿Cuál es la perspectiva del orador sobre los placebos?

El orador ve los placebos positivamente, argumentando que son efectivos, económicos de desarrollar, y libres de efectos secundarios significativos, lo cual plantea la cuestión de por qué no se utilizan más ampliamente en la medicina.

¿Qué anécdota histórica relata sobre Federico el Grande y las papas?

Cuenta cómo Federico el Grande de Prusia promovió el consumo de papas al declararlas un vegetal real, accesible solo para la familia real, lo que aumentó su atractivo y fomentó su cultivo entre los campesinos.

¿Cómo describe el orador el valor de los bienes en relación con la percepción?

Menciona que todo valor es relativo y percibido, utilizando el ejemplo de cómo los vendedores en Buenos Aires discriminan por precios a los turistas, destacando cómo la percepción puede influir fuertemente en el valor asignado a los bienes.

¿Qué ejemplo da sobre la creación de valor intangible en el marketing?

Habla de la propuesta de un intern en Ogilvy de relanzar el cereal Shreddies simplemente rotándolo 45 grados y llamándolos 'Diamante Shreddies', lo que fue un cambio puramente perceptivo pero efectivo.

¿Qué opina sobre la imposición frente a la persuasión en la política pública?

Argumenta que la persuasión es más efectiva que la imposición, usando el ejemplo de cómo Atatürk en Turquía desalentó el uso del velo haciéndolo obligatorio solo para las prostitutas, evitando así resistencia y obteniendo un cambio cultural.

¿Cómo aplica su enfoque a problemas ambientales y sociales?

Sugiere que podemos abordar problemas ambientales y sociales alterando la percepción y el valor de las cosas, en lugar de cambiar físicamente los bienes o servicios, como su idea de utilizar joyería de hierro durante la guerra para sustituir a la de oro y promover el sacrificio.

¿Cuál es la importancia de la economía conductual en sus propuestas?

El orador valora la economía conductual por su capacidad de influir en el comportamiento humano a través de pequeños cambios en la percepción y la presentación de opciones, como el uso de señales de velocidad que muestran caras sonrientes o tristes para controlar el tráfico.

¿Qué crítica hace a la visión tradicional de la economía sobre el valor?

Criticó la noción de que el verdadero valor solo proviene del trabajo físico y materiales limitados, argumentando que el valor añadido que percibimos en bienes y servicios a través de la publicidad y la percepción es igualmente válido y necesario.

Outlines

00:00

😀 La valoración de la publicidad y el valor intangible

El orador, un especialista en publicidad, aborda su experiencia en Ted y Ted Evil, destacando la importancia del valor intangible en la creación de la publicidad. Argumenta que en un futuro con menos bienes materiales, el valor intangible puede ser una excelente alternativa a la escasez de recursos. Propone una perspectiva innovadora al sugerir la mejora de experiencias, como el viaje en tren de Londres a París, a través de la valoración de aspectos más emocionales y menos materiales.

05:00

😉 El poder de la percepción y la economía conductual

Se discute cómo la percepción y la economía conductual pueden ser más efectivas que la fuerza en la solución de problemas. Se mencionan ejemplos como el uso del placebo en la educación y la forma en que la imagen y la percepción influyen en la valoración de los productos y la adopción de hábitos. Se destaca la importancia de la persuasión y la intangible en la creación de valor, y cómo la tecnología móvil y la inteligencia artificial pueden influir en el comportamiento humano.

10:01

😂 La comunicación contextual y la influencia del entorno

El hablante explora la idea de la comunicación contextual a través de ejemplos como el consumo de Pernod en Francia y cómo los hábitos y preferencias pueden variar según el entorno. Destaca la importancia de la adaptación y la comprensión de las diferencias culturales en la comunicación y la publicidad. Además, menciona la evolución de los medios de comunicación y cómo la participación del usuario y el contenido generado por el usuario (UGC) han cambiado la forma en que se crean y perciben los valores intangibles.

15:02

🤔 La valoración de lo existente y la apreciación del valor intangible

El orador concluye con una reflexión filosófica sobre la necesidad de apreciar lo que ya existe y el valor de las cosas que comúnmente se subestiman, como la salud, el amor y la sexualidad. Hace un llamado a la creatividad y la innovación en la valoración de las cosas, en lugar de siempre buscar lo nuevo. Finaliza con citas que resaltan la importancia de la apreciación y la maravilla, y cómo al valorar correctamente estas cosas, podemos ser mucho más ricos de lo que imaginamos.

Keywords

💡intangible value

El valor intangible se refiere a una forma de valor que no se puede medir o tocar, sino que se basa en percepciones y emociones. En el video, se discute cómo el valor intangible puede ser una sustitución efectiva para los bienes materiales, y cómo puede ser creado a través de la publicidad y la percepción. Se utiliza como ejemplo la idea de que los productos pueden valer más por su marca o imagen de lo que por su valor material intrínseco.

💡perceived value

El valor percibido es la valoración que los consumidores hacen de un producto o servicio basada en su interpretación y experiencia personal. En el contexto del video, este concepto es crucial para entender cómo las empresas pueden influir en las decisiones de compra a través de la creación de un valor percibido positivo asociado con sus productos.

💡advertising

La publicidad es una forma de marketing que utiliza medios de comunicación para influir en las opiniones y comportamientos de los consumidores. En el video, se aborda cómo la publicidad puede crear y manipular el valor intangible de los productos, y cómo puede ser una herramienta efectiva para cambiar la percepción de los mismos.

💡perception

La percepción es la interpretación subjetiva que las personas hacen de la realidad basada en sus sentidos y experiencias. En el video, se enfatiza la importancia de la percepción en la creación de valor, ya que las personas a menudo valoran los productos y servicios en función de cómo los ven y experimentan, más que por su valor material intrínseco.

💡placebo effect

El efecto placebo se refiere a la respuesta psicológica que algunas personas tienen a un tratamiento que no tiene efecto medicinal real, pero que funciona simplemente porque la persona cree que funcionará. En el video, se menciona cómo este efecto puede ser utilizado en la educación y en otros contextos para crear un valor percibido sin cambios materiales.

💡behavioral economics

La economía comportamental es una rama de la economía que estudia cómo las decisiones de los individuos y las empresas se ven influenciadas por los factores psicológicos y sociales. En el video, se utiliza como un ejemplo para ilustrar cómo pequeños cambios en el diseño de un sistema pueden tener un gran impacto en las decisiones y comportamientos de las personas.

💡persuasion

La persuasión es el proceso de influir en la opinión o comportamiento de otra persona a través de la comunicación y la retórica. En el contexto del video, la persuasión se presenta como una herramienta más efectiva que la compulsión o la fuerza en la mayoría de los casos, especialmente en la creación de cambios en la percepción y comportamiento de los consumidores.

💡subjective value

El valor subjetivo es aquel que varía de persona en persona y depende de las preferencias individuales, las experiencias y las percepciones. En el video, se discute cómo el valor subjetivo es fundamental en la economía y en la toma de decisiones, ya que lo que es valioso para una persona puede no serlo para otra.

💡consumerism

El consumerismo es un sistema social y económico en el cual el consumo de bienes y servicios es el motor principal del crecimiento y la identidad personal. En el video, se cuestiona el consumerismo tradicional y se sugiere que se puede reducir el consumo material en favor de un enfoque en el valor intangible y la percepción.

💡environmental movement

El movimiento ambiental es un conjunto de esfuerzos para proteger el medio ambiente y promover prácticas sostenibles. En el video, se alude a cómo el movimiento ambiental puede beneficiarse de la creación de valores intangibles que reemplacen el consumo excesivo de recursos naturales y materiales.

💡social networking

Las redes sociales son plataformas en línea que permiten a las personas conectarse, compartir información y mantenerse en contacto con sus conocidos. En el video, se sugiere que las redes sociales pueden ayudar a crear valor a través de la percepción y compartiendo experiencias, reduciendo la necesidad de gastar dinero en bienes materiales para obtener satisfacción.

💡impulse buying

La compra impulsiva es el acto de comprar un producto o servicio sin previo planes o consideración. En el video, se sugiere que se puede manipular este comportamiento para cambiar la forma en que las personas toman decisiones, como en el ejemplo de un botón que impulsiona a ahorrar dinero impulsivamente.

Highlights

The concept of intangible value in advertising, such as perceived or badge value, is often undervalued.

Intangible value can be a sustainable substitute for using up labor or limited resources.

An example of improving a train journey not just by shortening it, but by enhancing the experience with supermodels handing out champagne.

The idea that placebos can be effective due to the power of perception, with little to no side effects.

The suggestion of 'placebo education' where the impression of a good education leads to success.

The story of Frederick the Great of Prussia using marketing techniques to promote the potato as a royal vegetable to encourage its consumption.

The principle that all value is subjective and that persuasion is often more effective than compulsion.

The use of smiley faces on speed signs as an example of behavioral economics, where a simple emotional trigger can be more effective than a fine.

The case of Prussian jewelry made of cast iron during war times as a symbol of sacrifice and status.

The importance of creating intangible value in products like denim and Coca-Cola, which have a high component of messaging value.

The role of media and technology in creating a more participatory and fair environment for value creation.

The concept of 'food to point zero', which is food produced for the purpose of sharing with others.

The impact of contextual communication in marketing, such as the example of Pernod being a popular drink only within France.

The idea that our perception of quality in products like wine is heavily influenced by the price we are told they are.

The potential for using technology to 'nudge' behavior, such as creating an impulse to save money with a simple button.

The Shreddies 'Supposedly Square' campaign as an example of creating intangible value without changing the product.

The importance of appreciating what already exists and not just focusing on creating new things.

Quoting GK Chesterton - 'We're perishing for want of wonder, not for want of wonders', emphasizing the need for appreciation of the ordinary.

Encouraging a shift in values towards intangible things like health, love, and sex, and away from purely materialistic pursuits.

Transcripts

this is my first time at Ted normally as

an advertising man I actually speak at

Ted evil which is Ted's secret sister

organization that pays all the bills

it's held held every two years in Burma

and I yeah I particularly remember a

really good speech by Kim jong-il on

trying to get teens smoking again but

actually it suddenly come to me after

years working the business that what we

create in advertising which is

intangible value you might call it

perceived value you might call it badge

value subjective value intangible value

of some kind gets rather a bad rap if

you think about it if you want to live

in a world in the future where there are

fewer material goods you basically have

two choices you can either live in a

world which is poorer which people in

general don't like or you can live in a

world where actually intangible value

constitutes a greater part of overall

value that actually intangible value in

many ways is a very very fine substitute

for using up labor or limited resources

in the creation of things now here's one

example this is a train which goes from

London to Paris the question was given

to a bunch of Engineers about fifteen

years ago how do we make the journey to

Paris better and they came up with a

very good engineering solution which was

to spend six billion pounds building

completely new tracks from London to the

coast and knocking about 40 minutes off

a three and a half hour journey time now

call me mr. picky I'm just dad man but

it strikes me is a slightly

unimaginative way of improving a train

journey merely to make it shorter now

what is the hedonic opportunity cost of

spending six billion pounds on railway

tracks here's my naive advertising man's

suggestion what you in fact do is employ

all of the world's top male and female

supermodels pay them to walk the length

of the train handing out free shattered

the truce for the entire duration of the

journey

um now you're still you'll still have

about three billion pounds left in

change and people will ask for the

trains to be slowed down

now here's another naive advertising

man's question again and this shows that

engineers medical people's scientific

people have an obsession with solving

the problems of reality

we're actually most problems once you

reach some basic level of wealth in

society most problems actually problems

of perception so ask another person what

on earth is wrong with placebos they

seem fantastic to me they cause very

little development they work

extraordinarily well they have no side

effects or if they do they're imaginary

so you can safely ignore them I was

discussing this and actually went to the

the marginal revolution blog by Tyler

Cowen I don't if anybody knows it sold

actually suggested you take this concept

further and actually introduce placebo

education the point is that education

doesn't actually work by teaching you

things it actually works by giving you

the impression that you've had a very

good education which gives you an insane

sense of unwarranted self confidence

which then makes you very very

successful in later life so welcome to

Oxford ladies and gentlemen um now

potentially the point the point of

receive our education essentially how

many problems of life can be solved

actually by tinkering with perception

rather than that tedious hard-working

and messy business of actually trying to

change reality great example from

history I've heard this attributed to

several other kings but doing a bit of

historical research it seems to be

Frederick the Great Frederick the Great

of Prussia was very very keen for the

Germans to adopt the potato and to eat

it because he realized that if you had

two sources of carbohydrate wheat and

potatoes you get less price volatility

and bread and you get a far lower risk

of famine because you actually had two

crops to fall back on not one the only

problem is potatoes if you think about

it looked pretty disgusting and also

eighteenth-century Prussians ate very

very few vegetables rather like

contemporary Scottish people and so on

so actually he tried making compulsory

the Prussian peasantry said we can't

even get the dogs to eat these damn

things

they're absolutely disgusting they're

good for nothing there are even records

of people being executed for refusing to

grow potatoes so he tried Plan B he

tried the marketing solution which is he

declared the potato was a royal

vegetable and none but the royal family

could consume it and he planted in a

royal potato patch with gods who had

instructions to guard over it night and

day but with secret instructions not to

guard it very well now 18th century

peasants know there's one pretty safe

rule in life which is if something's

worth guarding it's worth stealing

before long there was a massive

underground potato growing operation in

Germany what he's effectively done is

he'd rebranded the potato it was an

absolute masterpiece I tell this or any

gentleman to Turkey came up and said

very very good market of Fred of the

grape but not a patch on Ataturk said as

a Turk rather like Nicolas Sarkozy was

very keen to discourage the wearing of

the veil in Turkey to modernize it now

boring people would have simply banned

the veil but that would have ended up

with a lot of awful kickback in a hell

of a lot of resistance Ataturk was a

lateral thinker he made it compulsory

for prostitutes to wear the veil

now

I can't verify that for it but it

doesn't there's your environmental

problem solved by the way guys all

convicted child molesters have to drive

a Porsche km

what out of Terk realize that is two

very fundamental things which is that

actually first one all value it is

actually relative all value is perceived

value for those who don't speak Spanish

shoe data Raqqa is actually the Spanish

does actually it's not the dollar

essentially the peso in Buenos Aires a

very clever

Buenos Aires street vendors decided to

practice price discrimination to the

detriment of any passing gringo tourists

as an advertising man I have to admire

that but the first things all value all

value is subjective second point is that

persuasion is often better than

compulsion these funny signs that flash

your speed at you some of the new ones

on the bottom right now actually show a

smiley face or a frowny face to act a

little emotional trigger what's

fascinating about these signs is they

cost about 10% of the running cost of a

conventional speed camera but they

prevent twice as many accidents so the

bizarre thing which is baffling to

conventional classically trained

economists is that a weird little smiley

face has a better effect on changing

your behavior that the threat of 60

pounds of fine and 3 penalty points tiny

little behavioral economics detail

initially penalty points go backwards

you start with 12 and they take them

away because they found that loss

aversion is a more powerful influence on

people's behavior in Britain we can fill

whoa got another three not so in Italy

another fantastic case of creating

intangible value to replace actual or

material value which remembers what

after all the environmental movement

needs to be back this again is from

Prussia from I think about 1812 1813 the

wealthy Prussians to help in the war

against the French we're encouraged to

giving all their jewelry and it was

replaced with replica jewelry made of

cast iron here's one gold Gabby for

Eisen 1813 the insignia is for 50 years

hence the highest status jewelry you

could wear in Prussia wasn't made of

gold or diamonds it was made of cast

iron because actually never mind the

actual intrinsic value of having gold

jewelry this actually had symbolic value

badge value it said that your family had

made a great sacrifice in the past so

the modern equivalent would of course be

this

but actually there is a thing just as

there are villain goods where the value

of the good depends on being expensive

and rare there are opposite kind of

things where actually the value in them

depends on them being ubiquitous

classless and minimalistic if you think

about it shaker ism was a proto

environmental movement Adam Smith talks

about 18th century America where the

prohibition against visible displays of

wealth was so great it was almost

blocked on the economy in New England

because even wealthy farmers could find

nothing to spend their money on without

incurring the displeasure of their

neighbors it's perfectly possible to

create these social pressures which lead

to more egalitarian societies what's

also interesting if you look at products

that have a high component of what you

might call messaging value a high

component of intangible value versus

their intrinsic value they are often

quite a gala terraeum in terms of dress

denim is perhaps the perfect example of

something which replaces material value

with symbolic value coca-cola budget we

may be a letter pinkos and you may not

like the coca-cola company but it's

worth remembering Andy Warhol's point

about coke where what Warhol said about

copious he said what I really liked

about coca-cola is the President of the

United States can't get a better coat

than the bum on the corner of the street

now let me think she when you think

about it we take it for granted it's

actually a remarkable achievement to

produce something that's that's

democratic now we basically have to

change our views like there's a basic

view that real value involves making

things involves labor it involves

engineering it involves limited raw

materials and what we had on top is kind

of false it's a fake version and then

there's a reason sort of suspicion and

uncertainty about it I mean it patently

veers towards propaganda however what we

do have now is a much more variegated

media ecosystem in which to kind of

create this kind of value and it's much

fairer where I grew up this is basically

the media environment of my childhood as

translated into food you had a monopoly

supplier on the left you have Rupert

Murdoch or the BBC and on your right you

have a dependent public which is

pathetically grateful for anything you

give it um

nowadays nowadays the user is actually

involved this is actually what's called

in digital user-generated content

although it's called agriculture in the

world of food this is actually called a

mash-up where you take content that

someone else has produced and you do

something new with it in the world of

food we call it cooking this is food to

point naught which is food you produce

for the purpose of sharing it with other

people this is mobile food at British

you're very good at that fish and chips

and newspaper the Cornish pasty the pie

the sandwich we invented the whole lot

of them we're not very good at food in

general but Italians do great food but

it's not reportable generally

only latency of the Earl of Sandwich

didn't invent this an agenda invented

the toastie but then the Earl of toast

he would be a ridiculous name

finally we have contextual communication

now the reason I show Pernod it's only

one example every country has a

contextual alcoholic drink in France

it's Pernod it tastes great within the

borders of that country but absolute

shite if you take it anywhere else only

come in Hungary for example the Greeks

Archie managed to do something called

red cedar which even tastes shite when

you're in Greece but so much

communication now is contextual that the

capacity for actually nudging people's

there giving them better information BJ

Fogg at the University of Stanford makes

the point that actually the mobile phone

is he's invented the phrase persuasive

technologies he believes the mobile

phone by being location specific

contextual timely and immediate is

simply the greatest persuasive

technology device ever invented now if

we have all these tools at our disposal

we simply have to ask the question and

Thaler and Sunstein have of how we can

use these more intelligently I'll give

you one example if you had a large red

button of this kind on the wall of your

home and every time you pressed it it

saved $50 for you or put $50 into your

pension you would save a lot more the

reason is that the interface

fundamentally determines the behavior

okay now marketing is done a very very

good job of creating opportunities for

impulse buying we've never created the

opportunity for impulse saving if you

did this more people would save more

it's simply a question of changing the

interface by which people make decisions

and the very nature of the decisions

changes obvious

don't want people to do this because as

an advertising that I tend regard saving

is just consumerism needlessly postponed

but but but if if if anybody did want to

do that that's the kind of thing we need

to be thinking about actually

fundamental opportunities to change

human behavior now I got an example here

from Canada um there was a young intern

at Ogilvy Canada called hunter

Somerville who was working in improv in

Toronto and got a part-time job in

advertising and was given the job of

advertising shreddies now this is the

most perfect case of creating intangible

added value without changing the product

in the slightest shreddies is a strange

square whole grain cereal only available

in New Zealand Canada and Britain it's

Crofts peculiar way of rewarding loyalty

to the crown Hamden in working out how

you could relaunch readies he came up

with this

phrases supposed to be square I'm not

sure the most perfect example of

intangible value creation all it

requires is photons neurons and a great

idea to create this thing and I've said

it's a way of Jesus but naturally you

can't do this kind of thing without a

little bit of market research so

shreddies is actually producing a new

product total something I'm very excited

for them so they're introducing new

diamond trays there's what he did socks

there so I just want to get your first

impressions when you see that you see

the diamond they it's it's oh yeah it's

only appearance but it's kind of a 6 or

a 9 X 6

flip it over looks like a nice let's sex

is very different from enough never to W

exactly actually don't see one side

they're useful nature

there's one interesting them he just

tried square wonder heard

now naturally I should debate raged

there were conservative elements in

Canada unsurprisingly who actually

resented this intrusion so eventually

the manufacturers actually arrived at a

compromise which was the combat

now if you think it's funny bear in mind

there's there's an organization called

the American Institute of wine economics

which actually does extensive research

into perception of things and discovers

that except for among perhaps 5 or 10%

of the most knowledgeable people there

is no correlation between quality and

enjoyment in wine except when you tell

the people how expensive it is in which

case they tend to enjoy the more

expensive stuff more so drink your wine

blind in the future but this is both

hysterically funny but I think it

important philosophical point which is

going forward we need more of this kind

of value we didn't actually spend more

time appreciating what already exists

and less time agonizing over what else

we can do two quotations two more let's

end with one of them is poetry is when

you make new things familiar and

familiar things new which isn't a bad

definition of what our job is to help

people appreciate what is unfamiliar but

also to gain a greater appreciation and

place a far higher value on those things

which already existing there's some

evidence by the way that things like

social networking help do that because

they help people share news they give

badge value to everyday little trivial

activities so they actually reduce the

need for actually expending great money

on display and increase the kind of

third-party enjoyment you can get from

the smallest simplest things in life

which is tragic the second one is the

second G K Chesterton quote of the

session which is we're perishing for

want of wonder not for want of Wonders

which I think for anybody involved in

technology is perfectly true and a final

thing when you place a value on things

like health love sex and other things

and learn to place the material value on

what you've previously discounted for

being merely untanned able a thing not

seen you realize you're much much

wealthier than you ever imagined so

thank you very much indeed

you