Barnhart

Here is a great little speech by ad guy Rory Sutherland, who makes the case for perception change over real change. In advertising, that is what we do. We don’t reinvent the product. We don’t do the R&D. We rely on the companies to do the real product heavy lifting. We are happy to do the whole change perception thing. Call it candy coating or a spoon full of sugar or whatever, but it’s just words and music mixed with (on good days) ideas that can change perception of a brand.

So marketers, CEOs and CMOs taking care of how your brand is seen and perceived are the expertise of the ad guy. Making a product that is worth changing perceptions for is yours.

It makes what we ad guys do seem a little shallow, but it is what we do. We help clients change or perpetuate perceptions. It’s branding. Whether your brand is an energy drink, a car or a 15-year-old boy who needs a date to prom, it’s all the same. Affect the perception of your brand, and the consumer (or 15-year-old girls) will follow.

Add value without changing the product? The Shreddies “case study” in the video below is gut busting. (TED now has an iPhone app you can get to see all your favorite videos.)

Sutherland is right. “Poetry is when you make new things familiar and familiar things new.” That is what we do, or at least try to do (again, on good days).

So take a listen and get ready to smile, and then figure out how right Mr. Sutherland is.

Rory Sutherland: Life lessons from an ad man (part 1 of 2).