Watching the videos that Eric posted on Edward Bernays and Brian Solis really got the wheels turning in my head! As I'm scouring the racks of the Saks outlet, or some consignment boutique in NYC, feverishly looking for some cool new shirt or boots that would look better than the tons of stuff I already have in my closet, my subconscious is telling me I'm brainwashed, but I keep shopping for hours.
And it all ties back to Edward Bernays and WWI! It's even more interesting that he's Sigmund Freud's nephew, so my obsession with shopping stems from good ol' psychoanalysis. Bernays was aptly named "The father of public relations" in his obituary. Through propoganda, he created a world image of Woodrow Wilson as a peacemaker and a fighter for the people, and he figured if he could do that in times of war, he could do that in times of peace.
Bernays managed to convince women to start smoking by showing young, rich debutantes smoking "Torches of Freedom", evoking feelings of independence and power. What a great name for a cancer stick! I don't smoke and that name makes me want to light one up. So thank you Mr. Bernays, we are now in a consumerism society where our desires overshadow our needs.
Our digital society is a new way for public relations to flourish. I liked the video where Brian Solis interviewed John Battelle. Battelle talked about how we need to step back from everything we've built digitally and look at where we're going in the next thirty years. He says we're creating our own stress with technology and we need to focus on taking control over our identities in the digital world.
From Bernays' spin to spin the original spin, to the new pr shifting away from spin and "keeping it real" as Eric said in the first class, at the end of the day, people in public relations have been trying to make sure the right information gets to the right people. How we go about this keeps evolving and changing, and rightfully so.
The lesson we learn from Bernays is the value and importance of striking a chord with your audience by piquing their desires. He proved that fact in the early 20th century.
ReplyDeleteThe challenge in the early 21th century is communicating and winning over your audience in an age when they are saturated with information. The Internet is an on-line ocean of video, text, and search engines. How do you best stand out in this global, constantly changing sea of communication in an audience convincing fashion?