At our last meeting
 
Guest speaker.
 
Last meeting we were privileged to have an outstanding guest speaker, Chris Thomas, who was an advertising executive at BBDO.  Chris spent 37 years working in advertising around the world.  Chris is also one of the walking insomniacs which include a couple of our club members and who spend the early part of the day walking up Arthurs Seat.
 
Chis talked about advertising as being the “hidden persuader”.  He quoted a saying that “half the money spent on advertising is wasted, the problem is that I don’t know which half. Chris set about to demystify advertising.  
 

 

Chris receiving a gift ...

 

 
 
 
About persuasion, Chris said that we all act irrationally. We don’t think a lot about the decisions we made. In fact, following on from the work of the Nobel economics prize winner, Daniel Kahneman, Chris stated that we either use System 1 decision making which are fast and intuitive. These decisions are based on our feeling or our prior experience.  System 2 decision, on the other hand are used on complex problems, questions or when learning a new language.  Advertisers want us to use System 1 decisions, they want us to act automatically, without a great deal of thought.
 
Advertising is about creating memory structures so that we link brands to stories and ideas.  He provided examples of a number of ads from around the world.  I was fascinated to hear that the same underlying script is used even though the detail of the ads were different for different countries.  This was apparent in the Snickers ads; same underlying creative idea that “you are not you when you are hungry”, but portrayed in different circumstances.
 
I was also interested when Chris remarked that they are looking for the brain to release Dopamine.  This occurs when the advert instils a feeling of achievement when somebody buys the product.  Chis used the Guinness ad which implied that it is more of a beer than any other and it is made for men who make bold choices.”  In other examples, Chris said that ads about family and relationships releases a small amount of Oxytocin. He used ads for Wrigley as examples.  These emotions help to ensure that we choose the brand without thinking using System 1 decisions.
 
The ad that touched me the most was the Barbie Ad.  This was particularly because Chris said that it was filmed with hidden cameras. In these ads, a young girl was acting as the football coach for the day, a veterinarian or a college professor.  These were entertaining and really supported the notion that “When a girl plays with Barbie, she imagines everything she can become” I related to the punchline: “You can be anything”  I have attached a couple of views from this ad which is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1vnsqbnAkk

 

 

 
 
Club Business.
 
Secretary Chris asked whether the members are receiving information sent in emails from the District.  As there was a general yes, Chris did not discuss these items any further.  We question whether a summary should be also put into the bulletin. Let the editors know, please.
 
We were told that the portable Lucas Mill that was purchased for East Gippsland has been very successful. Our club supported its purchase and they are looking to purchase another one. I expect we will hear about this in the coming weeks.
 
Greg was the lotto winner.
 
 
The David Buchanan Memorial
 
I understand that the unveiling of the renaming of the BBQ Shelter to honour our good friend and community champion David Buchanan, went very well. As yet I only have one photo of the event and this is of the Club’s choral group.  Let’s see if we can find others that we can put in a future club Bulletin.
 
Well done Lyn for organising this event.