In the PBS special “The Persuaders” there was a quote that resonated with me… (excuse me while i paraphrase here) “Consumers are like cockroaches. If you spray a cockroach with pesticide, and at first it will work… but after a while they will become immune… “

Recently, like many people, I find myself constantly looking for ways to reduce the barrage of advertisements filling my browser and TV screen. Between TIVO and RSS feeds I feel like I have a pretty good system; content personalized and cut down to absolutely what I want; anything else is zapped, skipped over, blocked or ignored.

The things I find myself reacting to are not typically pushed by slick ad campaigns but more often than not by something as unsexy as a weblog of link’s, video refereed from a peer, and on the rare occasion a google text ad or Amazon referral.

The common theme I find with all these methods and my reception is based on my involvement and personalization. If you talk at me your gone. If I feel over-marketed, if feel I’m sprayed with a barrage of images and messages, your gone. Worse yet, your not only gone but I will seek out ways to destroy the model, be it spam filters, pop-up blockers or 30 second commercials zapped.

However, if I can participate with the brand, if you allow me to interact with not just the brand but with the message and make the message apply to me directly as something more than a logo… I might stick around to hear what people are saying.

Ok, I supose this has turned into more of a pseudo ‘guest post’ than a comment but the idea is something I’ve been thinking about.

Oh, the cult of Mac

Good words,, Mason. Thanks. Here’s another homegrown ipod ad. http://wiredblogs.tripod.com/cultofmac/index.blog?entry_id=558648