How Brands Use Design & Marketing to Control Your Mind

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As we navigate through the world, we are constantly being influenced by subtle design tactics that most of us aren't even aware of. These branding tactics can be found everywhere - in the layout of your favorite store, the colors of a pop-up ad, or even the design of your favorite app. But it's not just about understanding these principles. It's about considering the ethics behind their use, questioning the motives, and equipping ourselves to recognize and resist manipulation.
Editing by Brad Heath: / brad_heath_
Big shout out to Marc Levinson and Kyle Dexheimer for reading over my script and giving feedback on it!
All content directed and written by John Mauriello. John Mauriello has been working professionally as an industrial designer since 2010. He is an Adjunct Professor of industrial design at California College of the Arts.
Time stamps:
0:00 Intro
1:08 BS Continuum
1:38 Information Asymmetry (example from Rory Sutherland's book "Alchemy")
3:29 Emotional Alchemy (example from Rory Sutherland's book "Alchemy")
4:56 Tropical Storm: Visual Signaling
7:30 Seller Reputation & Trustworthiness (Sephora example and some other packaging examples from Rory Sutherland's book "Alchemy")
9:20 Category 1: The Debt of Kindness (Reciprocity as described in Cialdini's book "Influence". Envelope example is from Sutherland's book "Alchemy")
11:41 Category 2: Follow the Herd (Social Proof as described in Cialdini's book "Influence")
14:58 Ekster
15:57 Category 3: Obey Authority (Credibility as described in Cialdini's book "Influence")
18:58 Category 4: The Deception of Exclusivity (Scarcity as described in Cialdini's book "Influence")
22:41 Category 5: Misguided Loyalty (Unity as described in Cialdini's book "Influence")
28:40 Brutally Honest Manipulation
31:43 Creating Meaning
33:32 Education vs Manipulation
36:58 What's the Most Manipulative Brand?
(featured at around the 37 min mark) Hall of the Mountain King by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...

[@3Storms]

When I was in college for economics, I was required to take a semester of marketing, so I did. How it's taught in college is vastly different than the average person assumes. The entire textbook is non-stop psychological case studies and manipulation such as the Hawthorne Effect, where you can get people to behave the way you want when you let them know they're being watched (hence street cameras everywhere), and the acquiescence effect where the average person is a mindless sheep that wants to fit in with the herd, so control what the herd likes to make the individual comply. The entire thing is basically psychological warfare for ownership over the lives of the general public. It's been 15 years since I sat in that classroom, and I am still disgusted by it.

[@numbersix8919]

One can only hope your economics classes disgusted you more.

[@3Storms]

@@numbersix8919 Why? Have you ever taken economics? The base description given by every economics professor I've had is "the efficient allocation of finite resources to satify infinite human demand." Do you even understand the subject?

[@numbersix8919]

@@3Storms Wow. "Infinite human demand." I'd interrogate that a bit if I were you. Economics is supposed to be one of the social sciences, is it not? "Infinite human demand." Is there really something about finite human beings that is infinite?

[@3Storms]

@@numbersix8919 We will never stop needing food, water, housing, and other things. Never. Extinction is the only thing that ends the demand. And economics HATES waste. I still remember a case study of Henry Ford creating barbecue briquettes because he hated wasting leftover scraps of wood, and how people invented particle board and plywood because they hated wasting the leftovers from producing various things from wood. And you sound like someone who's opinion in the field has been polluted by leftists who themselves never studied it.

[@cosmiccentaur]

Yup. I studied mass communication and psychology was pretty much involved in every class. All revolving around manipulation of the public, basically. Of course there was an ethics class thrown in as well but honestly, I don't think many people took it that seriously. It's careers like these that really open your eyes lmao

[@danytalksmusic]

"we don't value things, we value what they mean to us. all of the objects in our life are repositories of meaning." That's deep!

[@hydrolito]

How much meaning does something have to have if cheap price or better yet given to me for free?

[@mummyjohn]

@@hydrolito I think that's the lesson right there; price something higher so that the person assigns more meaning to it.

[@TheWizardofOdds-ut2bx]

We also value the perception associated with purchasing those brands.

[@lawrup]

Wait... Does that mean My blood has meaning?

[@samuelyor9017]

“If you don't live in fear you can act more authentically”. That is a bar right there

[@artyb27]

Being able to turn a merch drop into an absurdist punchline that not only employs most if not all of the discussed tactics but also _makes me want to buy the damn shirt_ is absolutely legendary.

[@DeLaSoul246]

I don't think a merch announcement has ever made me laugh so hard I cried. Excellent 😆👏

[@CarolineMouton1]

I know right!! This made my day... Sharing now to everyone I know. Thanks for giving me hope for the new gen thought leaders of our world

[@linneamotts859]

Holy shi*t!! That satire and wit at the end of the BS continuum was gold! Take my money! I want those special tribe decoder glasses lol!

[@FrankBoston]

Yeah, this dude is good.

[@ae-editor]

Fr😂

[@Bigcrusha16]

The fact that he incorporated all the branding tactics he spent the last 35 minutes breaking down into the pitch was straight masterful, I saw it and all I could do was belly laugh followed by a slow golf clap. Incredible

[@vmx200]

The price drop was perfectly delivered. "This exclusive shirt is $500 wait no its only $50". 👌

[@xxtoxicbeasttxx]

Also it’s only available through August 21st, get it now while supplies last!

[@bumbithejznoodledr]

"A brand is like an autographed dollar" most brilliant way of putting it.

[@youtubehandol]

That's exactly the poignant point i took away from this video.

[@jossaler525]

"Educate, not manipulate" is such a great way to put it into words... as a business student, the lines between ethical and non-ethical are really blurry and sometimes we don't even have a way of knowing when it's turning into a L4+ hurricane

[@pn-gr8tn]

The transition into his promo was so seamless and well done while being a great demonstration of the topic at hand

[@_n_s8062]

on point.

[@pnwTaco]

I had to buy 20 wallets out of reciprocation

[@ninepinknails]

This

[@Blkcoffeeroastery]

The irony of him teaching us marketing tactics, while using marketing tactics on us 😂

[@TROLOGYEVEREST]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@thewhitewolf58]

To be fair that wallet was the best ad segway I have seen. It could actually have been seen as a part of the lesson until the link. Meanwhile most segways come across as people having a 5 minute autistic tangent.

[@WagnerWSanches]

The brushing teeth example shows how different cultures can be... Here in Brazil we are used to brushing teeth after the meals, even at the office...

[@frusia123]

That's because over there in Brazil you want to impress everyone all the time. I've watched Love is Blind Brazil on Netflix, so I know.

[@wind-flower]

This video encapsulates quite well why I have such a love-hate relationship with design/branding. On the one hand, I love the idea of harnessing something abstract like feelings or meaning to create something greater. On the other hand, in reality it's often abused and used to trick/manipulate people. Best advice is really just stay aware of the tactics, although you can never 100% evade them (and even if you could, doing so would probably be even detrimental in a way).

[@qwertydavid8070]

Harnessing abstract feelings to create something greater is the whole point of art. From music, to film, to painting, it's about creating meaning out of sounds and shapes. It is genuinely beautiful. Good art is humble and wise, it gives but doesn't expect anything back, it simply wants to show you something extraordinary, but it will let you decide for yourself if it is worthwhile. Marketing and branding is like art's annoying sibling that always demands everyone's attention but never has anything meaningful to say. It is bombastic and over the top, but it has no depth. It is the exact opposite of humble, and will often exacerbate it's claims just to get the slightest bit of attention out of you. Not fun to be around at all. Good art inspires your loyalty thanks to its humility and modesty. Marketing and branding just inspires annoyance due to their insincerity. I will forever be loyal to my favorite artists. I will never be loyal to a brand.

[@Gilotopia]

Better than a whole semester of a branding course.

[@Design.Theory]

Thank you so much!

[@ezekielphiri2607]

Honestly😂

[@calebsmith254]

tbf he is a professor. go to his class he might give you more juice

[@millthor]

Actually taking one and agreeing with you!

[@nycto16]

he is a professor? wow...

[@generativeresearch]

here are some of the key ways brands can influence and manipulate consumers: - Visual shorthand - Using visual elements like stripes on toothpaste or fake vents on cars to convey benefits that may not actually exist. This takes advantage of our bias towards things that look more complex or higher effort. - Social proof - Leveraging "wisdom of the crowds" by highlighting popularity or testimonials to make people think a product is good because others think it is good. This taps into our tendency to rely on others' judgments when uncertain. - Authority - Presenting figures that appear authoritative like doctors or celebrities to make claims seem more valid and trustworthy. This exploits our instinct to defer to credible experts. - Scarcity - Creating artificial scarcity and exclusivity around a product. This triggers fear of missing out and our tendency to place higher value on rare/exclusive things. - Unity principle - Brands associate themselves with identities, causes, or communities to make customers feel a bond or kinship with the company and other customers. This taps into our tribal instincts. - Overall, good branding attaches deeper identity/emotional meaning to products beyond just their functional utility. This meaning often relies on mental shortcuts, biases, tribalism, and other elements of human psychology that brands intentionally trigger.

[@alex.g7317]

Smarty-🩲

[@bethanylong9127]

37:43

[@Frontlineinvestigation71]

Facts

[@kulled]

but who wants stripy teeth? and whats the benefits of having them?

[@gabrieledimaria4479]

why did you use chatgpt bro 😪😪

[@solikeguyz]

Long live the creator's effort, creativity, attention, and everything else that was put into making this masterpiece.

[@meilinchan7314]

Did Liquid Death sponsor this video? ;P

[@JoshuaBennettMusic]

S H I R T 😂 OMG, you're killing me! Years ago, I worked for an architectural signage company, and MAN did I learn a lot about kerning. For some clients, every listing in the building directory was hand-kerned with the direct-transfer letters manually applied one at a time using a burnisher. I'm a guy who sweats the details, and that was perhaps the most precise, painstaking, meticulous work I've ever done. Bravo on the designer-repellent kerning! Just f*cking brilliant. 😂

[@stahu_mishima]

I love how the merch announcement was actually the perfect example of joining all the tactics in one, creating the über-advertisment, the best of it's kind, the destroyer of consumers' wallets

[@mrdummervilleean]

Now I am become über-ad, destroyer of consumers' wallets

[@colinkirkpatrick5618]

By far one of my favorite channels on design, this is wonderfully edited

[@Design.Theory]

Glad you like it! Hope you learned something.

[@prateeksharma8884]

True

[@lukedorny]

So true.

[@cekuhnen]

I agree I love it too and show it my students too.

[@DNOJ]

Your Endorsement made a sub… he should thank you

[@mazhermahmood6672]

This is a semester worth of MBA in marketing. Good stuff!

[@dingushussey4100]

Bit of a stretch to say that good branding and marketing have a public benefit, I spent 30+ years in design and above the line advertising and I would agree that the principles of good branding and marketing is a form of "quality assurance" for the potential customer, however I would suggest the first episode of Mad Men to actually grasp the true principles of advertising. When the surgeon general states that tobacco could no longer be promoted as healthy Draper spends the episode trying to find a way to present Lucky Strike as "healthy" while not actually making the statement, another prime example is how McDonalds own the trademark for "100% beef", this assures the consumer they are buying 100% beef, but what they are actually buying is the recipe that has been trademarked as "100% beef", which could be anything and could include rubber if that is what is in the trademarked description, or the "Dolphin Friendly Tuna" which is a subject investigated in the Netflix documentary "Seaspiracy". Advertising takes advantage of people's innate belief that they can trust those organisations speaking with authority and creates a giant illusion of public responsibility whilst representing some of the most evil corporations on the planet even down to monitoring their wikipedia pages to keep them favourable and play down historic controversies.

[@dingushussey4100]

I think I should retract my suggestion that you might be implying good branding as a public benefit, it was a bit of a knee jerk reaction to one of the early comments made in the video, and as i continued to listen realise you go into the subtle and overt deception techniques frequently employed by marketeers.

[@goat1401]

1.5m into the video and you know the creator didn't make this to go viral or earn ad revenue or any such shit. I salute the intention, courage and work it took to bring something like this for public education. Long live the creative mind behind this channel ❤

[@JoseLopez-eo4ze]

Maybe that's just part of the branding! Bravo! You did it again! Truly a master at his craft!

[@shuriken05]

The thumbnail is still pretty good marketing design

[@lemonline3719]

there's a sponsored product placement mid-way, lol

[@jenm1]

This video is riddled with misinformation and pseudoscience

[@jeff2758]

sorry forgot, BROUGHT TO YOU BY RAID SHADOW LEGENDS VPN TREE PLANTING LORDSHIP SERVICE!

[@deathgobbler4774]

I really like how you put your own promos in the respectful categories they belong to. very nice.

[@creativeartbyluvensky]

Absolutely interesting work he did.

[@sachabourdeau358]

Wildly thought provoking, 40 minutes flew by. Especially how it's easier for a board room to focus on what's best for a company rather than for customers, communities and the planet. Its not just pure greed, doing good can be complicated and involve many disagreements on the "ideal" solution

[@elysse3653]

it’s also the law. corporations can be sued and/or lose their company if they can’t show that they are making decisions according to the goal of increasing shareholder value. it’s only been around for 50-60 years, but it completely took over. the pushback is B corporations

[@SanderSovrlic-alesov]

Incredibly informative and well researched. Had me gripped from first sentence to last even though design and marketing are low on my interest list. This video made me realize how consequential and fascinating the topic of design is. It’s refreshing to hear someone so knowledgeable and with skin in the game break down such complex issues for the benefit of casuals.

[@theweirdgene8251]

This is a brilliant production! Not at any point did I want to pause the video. Excellently curated, brilliantly crafted, exceptionally executed... your channel is the netflix of design.

[@Design.Theory]

Wow, thank you!

[@jojo-xh5ik]

I felt like I was watching a class on LinkedIn

[@akuaad5938]

saaaaaaaaaaaaaaame. I wanted to go to bed but I couldnt stop watching

[@arctrix765]

even the fucking sponsor and merch i mean what, usualyy i be like ------------->

[@gabriellagrigorova5689]

exactly what I wanted to say. Great job, man! Keep going!

[@Robin-ps9wq]

wow I had been accidentally implementing this "indebted" stuff into my work and an artist. at the end of every sale when I send the final piece I always add an extra bit of effort/detail into the work and say I gave it to them "free of charge" and after we talk about the final product for a bit I bring up my digital tip jar. usually people tip after I have that extra little conversation with them so I just kept doing it that way. it also built a bit more of a relationship making them more likely to be repeat customers

[@Design.Theory]

Yeah we all employ these practices subconsciously, at least some of the time

[@akevabanshee3632]

As I'm watching this video, I realize that on some level, I understand all the techniques outlined in this video. I even use almost all of them to varying degrees. However, it has occurred to me that my feeling of vindication with everything you're saying here is also another form of marketing. One that you have employed very well. That is essentially validating your audience. Great work thank you for this video, I learned some new things along with a new perspective on some of what I already knew. You have earned my like, and subscribe today.

[@wgraphy.]

One of the best sharing on branding I have ever encountered. Appreciate how it began with background information about why brands need to exist in the first place. Excellent pacing, and informative all along the way with an abundance of examples. It's a whole university lecture worth of knowledge here.

[@RIXRADvidz]

Best class I ever took was an elective called, ''media communications'' it fulfilled an English credit and truly enlightened me to the deceit used to sell products. When ever I see a commercial I think, demographic, emotional response, set up and payoff. And the message is always the same, ''Buy This or Your Life Will Suck Forever''

[@MarkLawsonY3K]

Chomsky taught me about the two parts of a TV show. One is the content and the other filler. The ads are the content, my friend. The show is just filler to keep you watching.... The world never looked the same after Chomsky and Dawkins (roots of all evil). m.

[@TRUMAHFIA]

no cap same

[@RogueError617]

Did they include the century of the self as part of the class material? If not, I highly recommend this documentary, because it essentially goes into the origins of this crap. We can thank Sigmund Freud's disgusting nephew, Edward Bernays.

[@sudjen]

Got any book recommendations for that class?

[@RogueError617]

@@sudjen Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky is a great one to start off with if you want to understand how giant corporate interests and big business use the media to influence us. Reading material targeted at people going into public relations is another good way to learn the techniques that are used in PR and sales so you could spot them. the guy who's responsible for causing advertising to be the way that it is now was named Edward Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud, and he took some of Freud's psychology ideas and warped them to be used to advertise things e.g. instead of advertising a product because of its practical use, replacing that with advertising the product to appeal to one's emotions/deepest desires. The century of the self is a great documentary that goes into this, it's really long, but worth watching.

[@vivarc2]

Ten minutes in and Im hooked.. This is a spectacular break down of the levels unhealthy marketing and design. A quick counter point to the food tasting better with good design: there was a restaurant in my home town that always had a line out the door. Great food, warm and unforgettable service, the atmosphere was incredible. Seemed like the most prosperous restaurant in town. They didnt spend any money in marketing and advertising.

[@Design.Theory]

They must have leveraged the ideas of social proof and scarcity, which I explain later in the video! :) Social proof is basically the idea that restaurants don't need to convince YOU that something is good. They just need to convince you that OTHER PEOPLE think it's good. That's what the line out the door is communicating. Restaurants are all about these emotional shortcuts. Food is such a sensory experience, so it relies heavily on these tactics.

[@aronfischer8930]

You knowing that they "DO NOT" focus on packaging tells you all you need to know, it's making the food taste better using "not packaging" there you go my friend 🍻

[@f.justf.7230]

@@m1ntavrosrs calm down hes just saying

[@Uverchan16]

I think another marketing scheme is outlet shopping, big brands sell a range of items at a fairly, discounted price but most of the time the items quality isn't as good as their other non-discounted items and they still earn a profit because they slab their branding on these items thinking we're getting a good deal out of it.

[@TheBigjoao]

You keep making better and better informational videos. Congrats! As a Phd student in Design, big cheers from Brazil.

[@anushgopalakrishnan]

As a brand designer this video is wildly fascinating. Even though I understand most of these concepts intrinsically, it's good to have the reasoning behind these concepts explained to me.

[@Design.Theory]

Yeah we do a lot of this stuff naturally

[@keywolf23]

I like to also add something I noticed about Liquid Death out in the world: The can helps people (especially recovering alcoholics) blend in at concerts and parties. Which I think is a super cool side effect!

[@headshotnation921]

You’re also not ingesting microplastics

[@NonJohns]

​@@headshotnation921Cans have plastic lined in them if i remember right

[@animeloveer97]

depends on the drink iirc because things like pineapple juice will corrode the can@@NonJohns

[@JediRavz86]

If jedis are real, they work in marketing...

[@okraccoon]

first educating about how branding tricks us and then testing us with the merch. really good video, especially holding attention for 40 minutes. got to learn both about branding and how to retain attention with editing

[@nasaboy87]

My favorite artificial scarcity thing is the Futurama joke with the eye phone. The clerk says he just found the last one while there are thousands in the back room.

[@dominikmoritz497]

teaches us about deceptive marketing, proceeds to use deceptive marketing. love it, subscribed.

[@JoshuaLuellen-rg8xp]

I like how he just totally covertly used social proof to pitch his wallet sponsor right after explaining how to do it lololol

[@GhostEmblem]

Sometimes being poor is a blessing its the main thing that allows me to avoid alot of these deceptive traps.

[@StephenCoorlas]

Lol 18:59 Love the raw behind the scenes footage. I know how much effort goes into scripting, filming, and editing these videos so sharing those discrete moments are a glimpse into the comprehensive vision you had for this video, and you completely nailed it. Loved the hurricane analogy to carry us through, and you put together such great examples of all your talking points to convey these concepts. One of your best videos yet 🤘🏼

[@Design.Theory]

Glad you enjoyed it Stephen. Yeah this was a fun one. It was a really long video, so I needed some kind of forward progression in the narrative to push things forward and keep it interesting.

[@DiogeneDeSin0pe]

Also it is more fitting then an iceberg.

[@silentm999]

Influence is a helluva book. This video is gold. Have to add that we can push the various marketing buttons we have without it being utter horse shit. One of those buttons is building trust, and nothing builds trust like sharing an undesirable feature of whatever you're selling. Was in B2B sales for years, and everyone who bought from me did so because I was never afraid to tell an ugly truth. So I believe that Liquid Death's slogan should be: "Buying shit is not good for the world, but it sure feels like it!"

[@eyesofthecervino3366]

This is true. I like to order vegetable seeds online, and some catalogs will only tell you a list of vague positive qualities of each variety. Others will give an actual breakdown of what their good and bad points are and what varieties are good for what, and I'm so much more likely to buy from those guys.

[@Sushi33312]

One of the more brilliant companies is called "Little Miss Matched" which markets mis-matched socks to little girls ! It's like a club where the kids show off their latest socks to each other as an almost status symbol.

[@superiorbeing95]

15:20 Relies on someone else to do his research on the product he promotes, just like he said was dangerous🤣🤣

[@tuanadenizb]

This video made me feel really good because it's all the things I've been telling some people around me as a graphic designer(and previously a graphic-design-student) and couldn't manage to make them think it's nothing more than some fancy stuff. I always look at the specs, ingredients and background info of the things I buy and it makes me see clearly how everyone thinks the brand is so good because the packaging says so. but even if I showed it to them, the fossil brains still wouldn't take my job seriously. I know I am being a bit dramatic but I just felt like sharing my feelings about this since there isn't a lot of people around me that can understand me when I talk about graphic design

[@mr.fluffythepekingese2737]

I feel you bro, I am a graphic designer and I know our job is to make brands look attractive so more consumers buy more of the product, even if the product is bad quality.

[@tuanadenizb]

@mr.fluffythepekingese2737 we're dangerous 😂

[@MarkLawsonY3K]

Consider hope.... (only kidding) When Bernays and Lippman first descovered the power to control the reptilian brain, they envisioned it for good. Corporate just envisioned profit from the bewildering herd. all our problems can be fixed by us cause we caused them... I think AI is going to help or send us to the matrix. m.

[@starshot5172]

About the toothpaste: Most people brush their teeth to prevent cavities. 2x a day is enough for most people. Peppermint oil is anti-microbial as well, as something that gives you an indication of where the toothpaste has been in your mouth!!!

[@hellogoodbye311]

Yup really strong health reason. To avoid horrible toothache, teeth falling out and eventually not being able to chew food - to draw it to an extreme. I mean humans used chewed wooden sticks as toothbrushes ?

[@beatrizt.m.9645]

That is what I was thinking too!

[@user-xx7xx2ek4i]

What if I tell u that u don’t need toothpaste to clean your teeth 🦷 a toth brush and a floss is enough the toothpaste created to just for the feeling of clean teeth just advertising I’m a dental specialist

[@starshot5172]

​@@user-xx7xx2ek4i Mate, no one is stopping you from not brushing your teeth with toothpaste. Just don't act like a fool when your teeth are eroded and discolored, possibly having cavities. Toothpaste prevents all of the above, by making the environment in your mouth less hospitable to bacteria in general. There is no such thing as a 100% healthy oral microbiome, as your food will always contain carbohydrates and bacteria that turn those carbohydrates into various acidic compounds that over time, erode your teeth. Sodium bicarbonate is used to remove staining from your teeth, as many foods (healthy foods, unhealthy foods, doesn't matter) stain your teeth. It is also important to stimulate the gums by brushing it, to prevent recession of the gums, exposing the vulnerable root of the teeth to the acidic environment, and causing tooth decay. You are CLEARLY not a dental specialist, and just someeone who saw or heard something online and replicated it with no further thought. Sure, the food and drug industry is manipulative in many ways, but a lot of that comes from WWII, when food had to mass produced and had to be shelf stable. Not much was knows about the chemicals used, and even if they knew it wasn't the best thing, it definitely worked and didn't reduce lifespan drastically. Especially when you look at the developments in medicine since that time. Bye.

[@Mr.Voysey]

I stopped using toothpaste as they put terrible chemicals in them. And I’ve seen absolutely no difference. No one has said I have bad breath and the dentist even said my teeth look lovely. I brush twice a day with water and a normal toothbrush. It’s a bullshit product that literally does nothing :)

[@grayanderson8377]

Well done brother! You are proof that if you have good content and dig deep and plan it out, people will stay and watch the entire 40 minutes as I did.

[@samarthmalik2664]

The art in this video, man explains various techniques of branding and marketing while simultaneously using all these techniques. The application is so well done, it’s amazing.

[@memeclub1846]

The way you segwayed into the sponsorship in this video was so smooth! I usually skip over the promotions in videos, but because of the way you tied it in with your student's recommendation as a way to also add a final point to the previous segment was so seamless I didn't skip because I was acard to miss any other personal tidbits. I love it when you tubers implement interesting hooks to save me the guilt of skipping the promo.

[@Design.Theory]

Yay! Thank you!

[@etinokundaye5537]

Well well done

[@MarkLawsonY3K]

But the Guilt hook got you. If history of hooks interests you Larry David's ad for blockchain where he concludes "nah, it won't last" they paid him 10mil for the reverse psychology. And a hook that changed my life the YT from Dawkins "the roots of all evil" the most powerful hook of them all... everlasting life. Shaaa ...Booom

[@NakedSageAstrology]

I just skipped it; I already pay for KZbin premium, it is frustrating for me to be bombarded by advertising because I am just after knowledge.

[@aaoa666]

Never really realised the power of a brand until I (who wasn't really IMpopular - but not popular) got a handful of fake-brand clothes, some of the mid 2000's mega-popular Evisu jeans and all of a sudden I was invited to do stuff, people who previously didn't even look at me started talking to me etc. F-ing nuts

[@hydrolito]

Forgot to mention Cherokee Jeans also heard of.

[@hydrolito]

Also heard of Lands' End and Arizona Jeans why haven't I heard of Evisu jeans if they are popular?

[@MarkLawsonY3K]

In the old days.... being the captain of the football team didn't bring as much notoriety as next locker guy, Tom got when his folks bought him the first Bell bottoms in our school.... read poor captain. Consider Annie Leonards "Story of Stuff" classic Mook.

[@goodnesssamuel307]

Wow, your explaination blew me away. I have to save this video so I can rewatch it and try to understand further. The message you passed along is an answer to the questions I want answers to. You have a new subscriber 💯

[@fabiansggi5496]

15:13 outstandingly smooth transition into add 😂

[@0ptimal]

This is the sort of thing that society desperately needs a grasp of. Its not just about advertising its about the fundamental way our brain works and it applies to everything we experience.

[@jeffharmed1616]

I don’t normally watch 40 minute videos but when watching this, time slipped by so quickly. Exceptional. Well done!

[@aa.xviiii]

Damn, I didn’t even realise

[@rafavince]

Shit. Same!

[@JohnsonFE]

This is undoubtedly one of the best videos I have watched on KZbin.

[@eu4ria2u2]

Thank you to this content creator for doing everyone a public service. Opening people’s eyes to subtle manipulation.

[@joynigam4151]

I usually sleep on your videos at first but whenever I do watch them, it not only changes my mind but also educates me to educate others. Wonderfully put.

[@lilithstenhouse267]

The Nike situation was also such a huge profit maker because the majority of people who burnt their shoes suddenly found themselves shoeless. So they bought the shoes again a few weeks later when they'd moved on to being upset about the new thing pushed by the media cycle

[@lw1343]

They didn't find themselves barefoot! Some rejected because of the hypocrisy of Nike using asian labor at $40 a month. That's a social injustice.

[@hydrolito]

Most people own more than one pair of shoes. They could have just wrote over the label or put a patch over it so it would not show.

[@roballen3281]

baseless and mindless idiots, that's the market they look for.

[@karolinakuc4783]

You talk like they there is no other good sneakers brands other than Nike. There are Yeezies, Puma, New Balance, Travis, Allbirds etc.. Any brand is less evil.

[@sanoakley]

😂😂😂

[@razatjangid1447]

Usually, I don't leave comments on videos. However, the way he introduced the promo material was superb. It was like summarizing the entire video in just 3 minutes 🤯

[@bananasmatter1321]

Lidl uses scarcity a LOT. I've noticed that their exclusive products are the same every few months or so, but in that week you think that you need to get it NOW, because otherwise you won't get it. It has gotten to the point, that at times I buy things I don't need. Inversely, I've also passed down on some products, just to be thinking about them months later. Either way, it works.

[@Black_2_Def]

"If you don't live in fear, you can act more authentically." Power Quote. Very good piece of the social engineering of Brand colonialism! 👏🏾👏🏾

[@griffsfurnitureemporium5487]

You, sir, are a genius. I loved every minute of this video, especially your ads.

[@charlesroberts9675]

Armalite Origins: The AR-15 was not initially designed as an “assault rifle” or “automatic rifle.” Instead, it was created for civilian use by a company called Armalite. The letters “AR” in AR-15 stand for “Armalite Rifle.” In 1959, Armalite sold the design to another firearms manufacturer, Colt.

[@raffiminasian7160]

Whole new level of video with this one John. Great work and as always huge buckets of insight. Merch madness coming at you for sure. Hilarious. In some of my class sessions on branding I used to say "branding is the ask" but in recent years it's more like "branding is the demand".

[@Design.Theory]

Raffi, you have been a fixture of this channel since the beginning. The channel wouldn't be what it is without you!

[@DopamineMVWM]

This video was BRILLIANT! But on an even more personal note; this video just clicked something in my brain and made me realise what I want to do with my life career wise (and should have been doing for the past decade! It seems so obvious now). Can’t wait to get all the books you recommend for this video

[@royaltypremiumcoffee]

You clearly spent a lot of time in making this amazing video and it shows through every minute. Thank you x10!

[@drtaverner]

Right off the top, generic medications are very different from the named brand. One Ultra Relief Tylenol accounts for 565mg of active ingredient, but weighs in at 700mg. The active ingredient of some of my medications accounts for only 10% of the overall mass. So for a numer of years one of my best friends ran a mass-spec lab at one of our universities. One of his jobs was to scan products for drug companies to ensure generic versions were not using their exact formulae. Drug companies leverage chemical synergies, where the addition of a catalyst will improve the absorbtion and effectiveness of a drug. By not being able to use (or even know) the exact formula of a brand name version, the generic pill fails to be as effective. There have even been cases where people have an allergic reaction to one, but not the other because of the difference in filler/additive chemicals. It's not about how much of a drug you take, but how much you absorb, and these different components affect absorbption. They are literally not the same thing, they just carry a common component. (Of course the _really_ cool part of the mass-spec lab was the 20Tesla magnet which uses liquid helium to keep it running at 2°K.)

[@cristinbuskard9250]

This would fit perfectly in intro to Marketing courses. Put this on to fall asleep and now I’m wired and excited by new ideas I have for branding. Sometimes reviewing the basics is inspiring, especially when it’s so well delivered.

[@FlowersAndPhilosophy]

It's amazing how different your takeaway is than mine. To me, these are bad things which companies should strive to avoid.

[@bigbird2200]

The company that gets me the most is Vans. I genuinely own over 3 dozen pairs of vans, and innumerable hoodies. But I don’t even skate in them. I skate in Nike SB’s. They’re the best skate shoe I’ve worn. But the thing is Vans has so much more meaning to me. Growing up when skater culture was an out group, vans was a company that provided unity to the group. Everyone wore vans or converse. Vans to me are a symbol of unity within my tribe when we were ostracized. And my connection to Vans has only led to deeper connections. I taught both my daughters to skate in Vans, I met my wife when she was working at the Vans store. The company managed to bring in a core audience at a perfect time to create an image of the skater outcast which resonated with me so deeply that I held onto that connection long after their function was overshadowed which led to the company’s logo becoming an important part of my life in places you’d never expect.

[@AmandaabnamA]

Vans have also been a lot cheaper than Nike. If you skate to commute and aren't tearing up the fabric doing tricks, they actually last as well

[@IlGrafico]

I'm 9:21 into this video, I want to say this is one of the best KZbin videos I have ever seen in many many years. Thank you so much

[@larryachiya2475]

This is one of the best things I've watched. Re-watching it in less than 24hrs

[@WillGibbons]

This is an epic video. Well-done John! I can only imagine how much work went into this one.

[@Design.Theory]

I appreciate it coming from you Will! Great to hear from you!

[@IllusionSector]

@@Design.Theory 25:27 John, you mentioned Nike's $6,000,000,000 gain from the controversial Kaepernick campaign and It got me wondering for the first time if Bud Light's Dylan Mulvaney fiasco was actually a failed attempt to replicate that strategy.

[@shindousan]

6:54 In fact, I do just that. People around me think I'm a little crazy. As a result, my products serve me better and last longer, and I have more money to enjoy traveling. The people around me don't. This can be rewarding or not, for example I know my smartphone is imperfect and I still had to buy it because I needed a new phone and competitors had worse flaws. Most people, however, are happy when they buy a shiny new phone, completely oblivious to the problems they will have that will produce the opposite feeling (along with feeling stupid or ripped off). Consumer associations used to do the work of comparing and testing similar products.

[@infernalstan886]

Regarding consumer groups, Choice Australia is still seems fairly decent at this stuff

[@qwertydavid8070]

Yup, that specific section of the video didn't really sit right with me. People SHOULD absolutely be critical of what they buy! I think it's okay to accumulate immaterial things, like knowledge or talents. I always hate it when people say "it's humanity's nature to always want MORE, you can't go agaisnt human nature! We need infinite demand!" We SHOULD have an infinite demand for culture, for knowledge, for understanding, for progress. Not for physical products. You can absolutely have "enough" in your physical life. You do not need yachts, or sports cars, or gucci clothing. Material needs will NOT give you true happiness. True happiness is immaterial. It is in the quality of the relationships that you have with others, and with yourself. I find joy in simply learning about things. Learning is to me what shopping is to most people. I do it mindlessly, even if the information is not useful, simply because it feels good to learn and understand things. Knowledge is an immaterial thing. I am not hurting the environment by learning more things. They do not occupy physical space, they are not physical burdens. Knowledge is not expensive. You can learn anything for free, or for very cheap, thanks to the internet. I don't have to worry about not having enough money if I want to learn something. My knowledge is not a status symbol, I learn things because I find it personally fun, not to impress others. People should strive to enrich their internal world, not their physical world. This is not to say that you can't buy nice material things for time to time, but at the very least people should try to consider about how those material things will enrich their internal world. I buy books and watch movies because they enrich my internal world. I struggle to see how buying designer clothes would enrich your internal world in a meaningful way.

[@jaanireel]

00:00 Brands use design and marketing to influence our emotions and behaviors. 05:18 Visual signaling is valuable in conveying product benefits and trustworthiness 10:17 Visual signaling and the rule of reciprocation play a key role in increasing donations and sales. 15:12 Designers and brand managers use the influence of authority in advertising to shape decisions. 00:09 Scarcity and loss aversion are effective design and marketing tactics. 24:42 Companies use social causes as a marketing tactic. 29:02 Liquid Death is a brand that sells plain water with a dark and over-the-top marketing approach. 33:33 Good design and branding matter because they utilize mental shortcuts for decision-making, but they can be exploited for unethical purposes. 38:15 Introducing the Design Theory Galactic glyphs t-shirt with a unique alien language font You Can't Judge A Video By Its Cover. you can by its first few chapters and certainly by its last.

[@nazz7653]

I am so glad I found your channel. Your stuff is so premium

[@rhers0b]

Love how he masterfully transitions an ad for the wallet in right before he fully exposes the sinister methods of these tactics. Respect!

[@runnut5]

Just wanted to note that the placebo effect isn't just a purely psychological phenomenon. For example, when a person (or animal) with physiological dependency to a psychoactive substance consumes it in a novel environment (i.e. where they've not used it before) the risk of overdose is much higher. It isn't just their perception of the potency/efficacy that changes; it literally makes the substance more potent even though nothing about the drug and nothing observable about the user has changed.

[@nenadmilunov2065]

Source please?

[@Bayan-yk4kr]

It doesn't make the substance inherently more potent. it increases the effects. the body wants to be in a state of equilibrium, when you take substances that bring your body out of this equilibrium then your body does things to bring you back. when you take these substances in a certain place regularly your body starts to automatically do those things because it associates that place with the substance. this leads to people taking more of the substance to feel more of a kick and feeling that they "need" to take the substance when they go to the area. however, when they take the increased dose in the novel environment their body doesn't react in time - leading to the substance hitting them harder or in worst-case scenarios overdosing.

[@runnut5]

@@Bayan-yk4kr I never said it made it inherently more potent. That would completely go against the point of my post which is that things which have an effect on your mind (like the placebo effect) can have physiological effects. Perhaps a better example of this would have been the nocebo effect being able to cause actual physical signs of non-existent illness such as the presentation of a rash in response to seeing someone with one and believing it to be contagious even when it isn't. My original comment isn't incorrect, it was intentionally written with a lay audience in mind. It might have been better to have phrased it as "it literally make the substance more potent [to the user] even though nothing about the drug and nothing [externally] observable about the user has changed" but it doesn't really change my overall point. And since we're being pedantic: the response actually starts before the individual ingests the substance in the conditioned environment, and it isn't that the body doesn't respond in time, it's that the cues aren't there so the compensatory effect doesn't happen at all.

[@samuelyor9017]

It's my first time here, great channel I learned a lot in 40+ minutes. Thank you

[@vsilvia1906]

I just wanted to leave a comment how amazing this video was! Very entertaining and informative and just so well put together!! Thank you:)

[@Jamie.]

I was in a Camper shoe store which display one pair of shoes at a time all in a central location. And having tried on a couple pairs of shoes I had made the person working there go in and out of the warehouse. In the end I bought the pricy shoes and thinking back now, it was probably aided by most of these principles. Adding scarcity and toying with consumer empathy.

[@animeloveer97]

the display yea but the employee proabably just wanted to look busy lol

[@tec4303]

30:19 Regarding aluminum cans over plastic bottles: Both are theoretically recyclable, but because of the higher melting point of aluminum it takes more energy (= CO2) to recycle it. It also depends on if recycling is even a part of the waste disposal stream of that material in your country. In general, it's best to dink tap water (if that's safe where you live) or, if thats not an option, buy water in reusable bottles or ones that have a working recycling system (like PET bottles in Germany)

[@eyesofthecervino3366]

Just in general, reusable is always better than recyclable. It's just hard to keep selling people stuff if you encourage them to stop unnecessary consumption :P The sad thing is, apparently there used to be a fourth R. Before Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, there was Refuse -- think about the packaging stuff comes in, and refuse to buy anything with excessive/unrecyclable packaging. Unsurprisingly, big corporations really didn't like to push that one.

[@petrmaly9087]

I part time work/volunteer in environmental protection in central Europe (no, not a political activist) and I can tell you with confidence the plastic bottle "recycling" is mostly a scam. Unlike cans, where there is just a fractional loss of material, but not of quality, plastic bottles can't be recycled more than couple of times and the degradation is noticeable. Since 2018 when China stopped importing cheap plastic to be recycled, the used bottles are sent elsewhere and there they are either burned for energy or just thrown into a sea/landfill. Those reusable ones can only be reused couple of times, contain more plastic and require quite a lot of energy to be cleaned. As long as we use oil for heating, plastic bottles are not that bad, though. We can burn oil to heat up our homes, or we can use the oil to make plastic, use that plastic and then burn that plastic. As long as it is done in proper facilities, which in most EU countries it is, the impact on the environment is minimal. The biggest problem of glass and plastic reusable bottles is the energy and chemical agents needed to properly clean it. The order of words in "reduce - reuse - recycle" is important, reusing is generally better than recycling (the best is reducing, of course), but not in all cases. It might be so that some bottles require more energy to be transported and cleaned than it would for them to be scrapped and a new one made. It makes sense to refill a bottle you have at home yourself, it makes little sense to transport it across the country to be cleaned.

[@Yeff365]

I was thinking about this the other day, when i was walking to the bus stop. How people associated certain brands with quality. It's mind boggling when you look it up: you spend more on the brand than the product. Everyone has there reasons why the buy what they buy, but me personally I go gor what's cheaper. Even though most cheap things are intentionally made to break or not last long. Kinda how a refillable bottles are better for the environment and cheaper in the long term, than buying "24-40 packs of water bottles."

[@arc1507]

Great video. Excellent content, message & articulation. I really appreciate the kind of effort gone into making this content. Thanks a lot

[@ximsFinance]

By far the best video i have seen on youtube! Im a graphic designer at school and i learned something things in UX classes and def these are forms of bad UX to mislead the user into buying things they don’t need

[@varadmurtipatil6476]

From last year I was stuck up this idea of manipulating people through marketing and branding and so I dropped the idea of pursuing marketing as career. But the reasoning you have given " manipulation vs education" is thought provoking

[@Gebri3l]

Marketing really made me hate everything too lol I dropped out

[@xxsnow_angelxx3953]

Second comprehensive video I've visited from your channel. Summary: most popular, niche but tactfully. Superficial scarcity is fast. Tribe, subtle to trust and support. Purchases because someone used to own it is special because only one.

[@nomiromero]

Oh my goooood, I loved it! The promo-Part was deluxe !!! Thank you so much for this video - it was just such a joy to watch :D DEcoding everything :D

[@troublesomecreek9932]

Does anyone else notice that car companies are taking advantage of pareidolia in their designs? Almost every vehicle’s front end looks like an angry or aggressive face. I think this might add significantly to people’s stress levels especially while driving. It’s the rare vehicle who’s headlights and grill seem to be smiling. I don’t think this is driven (yep, I did it.) by the buyer. This type of manipulation by design is insidious and harmful, in my opinion. Excellent video, thank you.

[@hagen.360]

I just wanted to listen to something interesting while clearing out my closet. After a few minutes you really got my full attention. Quit fitting to the subject 😅. Very well researched and presented. Subscribed...

[@gintonic6204]

dude just teach us everything and then gave an example by using all of then on the shirt merch, great mentor!

[@hellhound2679]

Here for my senior exit project research!! thank you for your video

[@tedsowards]

I will show this in my class. I love how thorough but fun!

[@Design.Theory]

Thanks Ted!

[@gokulbiju5855]

You know what Design Theory? This one just might be your masterpiece~

[@Design.Theory]

I think I still got a few more videos left in me :)

[@saintessa]

My local hospital (one in Australia) uses generic paracetamol and ibuprofen sometimes, so if they use them they're fine! I always look for the cheapest ones of paracetamol/or ibuprofen/ or asprin from the shops.

[@eges72]

This is very, very helpful to watch as a Visual Communication Design student.

[@Design.Theory]

Go get your Ekster wallet @ shop.ekster.com/designtheory & get 25% off with code "DESIGN" at checkout! Become a Patron: www.patreon.com/JohnMauriello These are the books I used to research this video. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND ALL OF THEM. "Influence" was my favorite, though: "Influence" by Robert Cialdini: amzn.to/3PPOYOj "Alchemy" by Rory Sutherland: amzn.to/3JRVgJq "The Brand Gap" by Marty Neumeier: amzn.to/44dx9gB

[@oanaalexia]

The only thing I don't like about this video, at 40 min it's too short. This subject could span over 3, 4 more episodes. I really enjoy your content.

[@edwardrocca]

​@@oanaalexiait could span an entire channel! Oh wait... 😅

[@Design.Theory]

There's an additional 80 pages of notes on the topic on my patreon. Or you can also check out some of the books that I used to research the video (links are in the description of this vid)

[@oanaalexia]

@@Design.Theory I'm kinda dyslexic to a degree, I think you're right about the books though, it's just the perfect way you explain and edit your videos, that makes me want to know more. You'd be a great teacher, I'm sure.

[@oanaalexia]

@@edwardrocca I'm interested how us masses are being manipulated by media. What triggers us really? I have 2, 3 channels that focus on marketing and logo design.

[@jalengonel]

I thoroughly look forward to your videos and deep dives. You've opened my eyes so much to the world around me. As an entrepreneur and creator, you've single handedly completely changed the way that I look at the world and analyze company actions.

[@Design.Theory]

Thanks Jalen, that means a lot

[@BarbieTheWelder]

Smart insights, fantastic delivery, slick product promotion. I respect your craftsmanship!

[@araujopsy]

Spectacular. It was a long but effective T-shirt advert. But now, seriously, I really liked the very good reflection on marketing and our behaviour as consumers who are not always as intelligent as we think we are.

[@eduardoesteves6840]

i appreciate how original these videos are, please keep up the great work