I understand why advertising people gloss products. The idea is to put the products in the best light with the goal to sell. It wouldn't make any sense for people to downplay products.
Incidentally, the most successful glossing I've ever seen most recently is none other than Steve Jobs back at the helm selling smiles with his iMac. I know a techie guy who voiced his concern from the very beginning that the iMac is nothing more than a stripped down version of previous models with prettier packaging. Also, the iMac has very limited upgrade capability. I know I know, the G3/G4 is available for that, and again, with prettier packaging.
But you know what? People'll buy it. Jobs gave people what many dreamed of from a computer. And people doesn't seem to mind if their iMacs are stripped down machines.
You know, marketing is like pick-up lines. Some will utterly charm your socks off, but most won't get you anywhere. The worst are the ones that contain a bit too much um.. testastrone, for the lack of a better word.
No, actually the worst are outright lies.
Hype, to me, is when you make promises about something, regardless of whether the promises are kept or not. There is often a difference between the manufacturing dept and the marketing dept. Sometimes, marketing depts. eve are separate agencies or companies. In short, marketing people specialize in trying to get the word out to people, but they don't always have the full information straight. There are lots of examples of products that were still the R&D stage, but "those in charge" told the marketing people to start creating product awareness. What does marketing people have? Only some sketchy details of what the product may or may not be capable of. That's just the reality of things. But, in the end, it is pretty disappointing when hype doesn't live up to expectation. My only point is that it's not always the marketer's fault (though I assume sometimes it is.)
Unlike hype, which is the level of standard created from the supply side, expectation is the level of standard from the ELU side. Sometimes, expectation comes from past performances of certain products or their makers. Sometimes, it is caused by hype from marketing and advertising.
Vapor is when a product outrightly does not live up to hype (or even exist at all).
There is ideally a sweet spot every advertiser wants to hit, and that's where optimal hype meets optimal expectations from use of end product. Naturally, this is very difficult to do, but the result can pay in spades. In fact, many become cultural icons. Brand recognition is often times more powerful, thus more important, than the actual product itself. Amazon.com to Mercedes. Endless examples.
Um, what was my point again? Doh. Well, my opinion is that there is nothing wrong with hype. Yes, it is disappointing when we feel a product doesn't live up to the hype, but that's the way the business world goes round. But I agree with what I think is the general concensus here: Too much hype preys on the public's ignorance. It might work. On the other hand, if we (the public) find out, we will be pi$$ed and it will completely backfire. Simple outright lies are not only immoral but illegal. Hex to those who have lied to the public.
My personal opinion on marketing is that I would like to see dignity and integrity when being courted by makers and manufacturers. "Hi. My name is company so-and-so. I have a wonderful product I would like to share with you. Here are technical details if you are interested. As you can see, we don't have anything to hide and we mean what we say. But I think once you get your hands on it, you'll understand why we are so excited about sharing this product with the world. Now, I'll leave you alone and let you judge this product for yourself based on its own merits."
Ideally, if a product is really that good, it will sell itself. The moral objective of marketing is simply to get the word out (granted, with a positive spin). Beyond that, it's just BS to me. I find the ones that tells you how wonderful they are to be rude. In effect, they're telling you how you should think. I can think and judge something for myself thank you very much. And I couldn't care less how far someone can pi$$ with this thing. Since not everyone can market with dignity and integrity, my only personal recommendation (to ELUs) is to ignore the marketing and make your assessments based on the product itself.
Forgive my oral diarrhea. I feel better now.
[This message has been edited by SB (edited 20 November 1999).]
-RadarMan-(<
