Life lessons from an ad man | Rory Sutherland

www.ted.com Advertising adds value to a product by changing our perception, rather than the product itself. Rory Sutherland makes the daring assertion that a change in perceived value can be just as satisfying as what we consider real value -- and his conclusion has interesting consequences for how we look at life.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at www.ted.com/translate. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

[@ThMrksman]

This is a man marketing the process of marketing. Very meta.

[@popstar10000]

rory sutherland's my dad. he is an awsome dad.

[@prachetanpotdar2401]

Millie Sutherland you are so lucky to have this cool personality as your dad. Is there any opportunity to interact with him? Is there any chance for their visit to India. An open invitation to you both.

[@clydekelvinandthesinners.3977]

I've seen a few of your dad's talks and Your very lucky he has a brilliant mind and a wonderful manner. You must be very proud and rightly so. I hope he has had the influence on you to be like him, we need more good people in the world, All the best.

[@zacharyneilson9220]

Are you sure he is awesome in reality? Maybe he just makes you perceive him as awesome 😉

[@god5535]

He is amazing personality teeming with ideas. You should be proud Millie.

[@axlegallardo]

Your dad’s a rockstar!

[@DanielJohnsonJr]

Saw this 14 years ago, several times after, and now I am watching this again... in 2024. So many examples that make me chuckle and smile about our humanity.

[@gerontodon]

Can't believe I've never seen this man on TV. He gives the impression that you already know who he is, even though you don't. More entertaining than a lot of media stars anyway.

[@johnnielawson]

Brilliant, I will have to watch this a few times and make notes, there are so many wonderful ideas in this presentation that I will somehow adapt for my own online project. Thank you very much Rory. Johnnie Lawson

[@muniralasadi624]

Just a quick reminder for you to re-watch it, in case you somehow forgot during the last 7 years

[@thecodingnoob9424]

11 years old and still ON-Point! Love Rory Sutherland, a marketer that has aged like a fine wine!

[@spacedtime6597]

I just don't know where TED gets all these great speakers talking about such fascinating subjects. TED is my best youtube subscription. Thanks guys.

[@CrownRoyalSociety]

I laughed. I learned. I thought. One of the best TED talks and I've been watching them for a long time now.

[@CetraTJ]

I could listen to that guy all day, brilliant!

[@2661960]

Loved this...we have actually had discussions over the Shreddies "diamond" shape!

[@trueblueguy88]

Wow! So informative and entertaining at the same time. Salute the teacher in him

[@whydizz]

great talk. Both interesting, informative, and being funny was a bonus.

[@The_Bird_Bird_Harder]

Rory, you are brilliant! I thoroughly enjoy everything you say :) it's the accent and the curls :)

[@Abnormalized]

Great talk! Very interesting and entertaining... and thought-provoking!

[@adj789]

One of the most entertaining TED talks! 5/5

[@sobrevida157]

I thought it was much better than that! I gave it 6 out of 6! (snicker, snicker)

[@isaidmrw]

This was a brilliant TED talk. I perceived it to be brilliant so it was.

[@ArgueExplain]

Best TED talk ever.

[@andy4an]

classic examples, and clear lesson on intangible value.

[@LivingLucid]

I laughed so hard at the cereal bit.

[@DanielJohnsonJr]

I struggled to believe that this wasn't part of a comedy sketch

[@YongLongLai]

Very entertaining and educational.

Love this!!!

[@bigsmokethegreat8351]

I watch it again and again

[@098anne]

Great stuff!

[@RarewareLover]

They like people who have ideas changing our way of looking at things, and it helps if they're engaging and entertaining.

[@detourrr]

Great talk.

[@helimax]

How could you dislike this talk..........

[@86kinky86]

spot on!

[@briankelly85]

Life is a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor...

[@prachetanpotdar2401]

brian kelly well said my friend

[@vishalkthacker]

I love your dad! :) He is so awesome!

[@maxis2k]

A perfect example of how marketing can get people to buy the same product is played out all the time with breakfast cereals. When I was a kid, most of the corn based cereals (Trix, Cocoa puffs, Kix, etc) came all in the same round shape and a set color. But after some lagging sales, most of these cereals changed the shape or color of the cereal. Trix is the most obvious as they changed from the round shape to the shape of fruits. An obvious gimmick, but it caused the sales of those cereals to rise. After about a decade of this, sales started to lag again. What did the companies do? They just reverted all the cereals back to the original bland spheres, but then called it "New Trix". And sales went up. I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years, they repeat the cycle again. While this seems like a copout, it is actually brilliant marketing. And Sutherland is right, we should be doing things like this. Because our culture is getting swept up into sensationalism, where we only look forward and completely give up on anything from the past. This way of thinking will just hurt sales in the long run since it creates smaller and smaller windows for a product to be popular. Something that comes out today will get replaced less than a year later. Or even a month later. That disgusting pink drink you got from Starbucks will become obsolete tomorrow when McDonalds comes out with a green drink that tastes horrible, but you gotta have it because it's "new". Eventually, this constant change will fall back in on itself. Companies won't be able to afford their ballooning R&D budgets and people will become desensitized to change. We're already seeing it happen with smartphones and movies. But what's old is new again. And some smart businessman is going to see a lull in the market and reintroduce a fad from the 1920s, which everyone will be tricked into thinking it's new and buy it up.

[@paradisesunriseyoga]

Love this man! Diamond Shreddies!

[@aneostratnub3931]

excellent

[@gabydewilde]

great talk

[@karbono]

Great stuff. I especially liked the potatoes story.

[@PedroGabrielTerapeuta]

Amazing!

[@pratiksharma5727]

Awesome man! Diamond and square cereals!!

[@antuntun]

this guy reminds me of the professor Claudio Vignali from Leeds Metropolitan - has a very similar presentation style and also very interesting lectures!

[@djosserperrah9563]

Very good

[@ErichoTTA]

Love the new intro.

[@ThomasRasinen]

This is great - what a message! Funny how one of the Shreddies tasted better than the other. Also, you want to cruise right through traffic, Motorize Your Bike!

[@svd348]

This one was fantastic. I was just about to give up on Ted too.

[@Pianofy]

Yes!!

[@praestantia1]

Fascinating. Marketing IS Phsychology.

[@dadadacrazy]

We have the same driving demerit point system in Australia - I can't vouch for it's effectiveness but I'd like to think that risk aversion is a strong motivator.

[@hannahskm]

as much as I hate advertising.. I love it!

[@DoogieTalons]

I love TED talks but there are not many that have made me laugh out loud like this one.

[@vishalthacker7396]

Hi Millie! I am a huge fan of your dad, and was wondering if he would share his awesomeness at my B-school! Could you help? Thanks!

[@Talixaen]

I love this. The shreddies thing is hilarious, and he raises some good points. Don't hate advertisers, or this guy, just because of his somewhat-silly sounding ideas. It's just a different way of thinking.

[@accuwash]

What a great talk... I love the potatoe story.

[@tunerr1]

I think this was the 3rd time I've seen this video. Somehow it just seems to get better :)

[@bigsmokethegreat8351]

Absolutely

[@Atoyota]

fun post!

[@deeptracy23]

Me too!

[@snowwolfsabertooth]

this guy is bloody awesome!! but some values and perceptions are not be messed with

[@theseanze]

James Rorty (philosopher Richard Rorty's dad) wrote a book on this in the early 1930s called "Our Master's Voice"...also confessions of an ad-man

[@rangavembar]

Hilariously educative!!

[@00alc000]

I thought the Sheddies commercial was brilliant. I have learned to hate new and improved because often the product is just fine the way it is. Loved your talk.

[@celshader]

I agree and I am a current ad man

[@roidroid]

"BAAAAA" Bacholor of Arts, Achievements, And Amazing Anocryms

[@RiotBrained]

Told to guard the potatoes,but secretly told to not do it very well. Made me laugh out loud. #howispendmysaturdaynight

[@Avalon_1991]

These are the people that should be in charge, not just career politicians.

[@TheGrapplingMonkey]

New Diamond Shreddis!!!

[@mitchellwright6902]

How does this video not offer a high resolution option?

[@johnkim7802]

Advertising and manufacturing are often considered separate yet nothing could be further from the truth. Advertising is greatly centered upon manufacturing perceptions of value; and any manufacturing must be successfully advertised in order for awareness and acceptability of the product. The paradox of advertising also makes it that people have great power to choose whether to accept an advertisement or reject it in a free market-based society. Yet advertising can be more powerful than even coercion.

[@WoWanate]

Enjoyable performance.

[@carreralee]

Where can I find TED evil talks?

[@dingusmungus]

8:29 a subliminal coke ad flashes... smooth.

[@DavidsonHangOfficial]

Welcome to Oxford! haha

[@lalalaso333]

It changed my mind thinking that advertisements are something tricky, I mean we do need that "tricky thing" to make us move forward and to be happy. Maybe to be alive needs something that assumes to be alive lol.

[@mariasoniamoreno3433]

British accent that can be perfectly understood by the American ear.

[@loucious22]

I love shreddies lol

[@pgfinna]

This guy is a rockstar

[@Teabonesteak]

Check out: Felix Dennis' odes to vice and consequences

[@MrArniePi]

Rory Sutherland is without doubt the greatest rhetoric I've come across. He uses powerpoint slides particularly effectively; I've witnessed the decimation of many presentations all because of jam-packed, unnecessary, and distracting slides.

[@Trazynn]

It actually came from Rory Sutherland, he takes the credit.

[@Bibbly53]

Shreddies: "A crafty way of rewarding loyalty to the crown."

[@Chameleam]

@dingusmungus i think that he had a picture of the logo up on the screen, and they tried to edit it into the video but it just fucked up a little.

[@BridgeMakes]

I laughed my ass off :)

[@Catherinebaseballmom]

How can i to find this video in spanish(traslator) ? thank you.

[@elninodepzai]

you can go to TED.com and download a version with Spanish subtitle

[@bilbcn]

The 'Settings' button on the screen (bottom right) allows you to choose the language for subtitles.. South American Spanish translation..

[@user-df2nn6yt4s]

bill m ظظاباوىلتز

[@BowlofIndoMee]

diamond!

[@MonsterinNC]

This dude is a fucking beast!!

[@roidroid]

it doesn't quite blow you out of your chair anymore

[@jonmanilenio]

Shreddies! hahaha.

[@gabydewilde]

thats what I thought !

[@KGPProductions]

For the anti-advertisers... I'm a marketer. I volunteer with non-profit organizations, including one for arts that, among other things, helps at-risk youth. By getting the information out and selling the firm, I am helping to bring down the crime rate, enhance the futures of individuals and enrich their lives. Marketing isn't inherently evil. And more importantly, everything is marketing; there's no real distinction. Even the posts against marketing are their own form of marketing.

[@ArxVirtus]

@John1Rawls - Correct you are. Creative, independent thinkers don't give a thought to "sheeple" or other silly concepts. They simply find ways to succeed. Those who point out frustration with "sheeple" are bound by their frustration and their inability to move past it.

[@minseo111530]

13:19

[@thehawaiianlion]

Did anyone else see the coke advertisement at around 8:30?

[@yotch555]

Yes, it's the subliminal ad.

[@omegavalerius]

Of course you can't put a space telescope in orbit with an placebo education. For marketing (and I have by BBA in marketing) it works. I couldn't have agreed more about the train stuff though!

[@jakylili]

agree thats pretty smart, if only most of the government now-a-days would understand and change this method a bit they'' get a lot done.

[@peterbundy84]

Unicum in Hungary! yeah, you have to drink it there to like it

[@crudhousefull]

@MomoTheBellyDancer I've been to Egypt. Belly dancers are crazy good. Anyway...good luck in your journey

[@MihaZ]

Placebo education hahaha, priceless.

[@josefserf1926]

"On the left you have Rupert Murdoch or the BBC, on the right the dependent public which is pathetically grateful for whatever you give it." Monopoly suppliers explained.

[@andymckee53]

@austpom333 What do you eat for breakfast?

[@oprahlovesgail]

I think he said "actually" about 800 times. Seriously I counted. I actually counted.

[@Atheist269]

"not very portable, genehrahlyy" LOL

[@AutodidacticPhd]

Placebo Education would be a brilliant new idea if it wasn't for the fact that this is what most people already receive.

[@gabydewilde]

@TheBigThoughful Yes, but you are also saying this can not be explained often enough. I wouldn't go as far as to externalize it and call people lower class. It most likely applies to you and me also. A smart person would keep reminding himself of how it works, he would still get caught eventually. Watching videos on youtube, searching with google etc etc

[@shiftyjake]

Why are you guys so down on this guy? He makes a lot of good points about how to shift values away from the material and closer to the emotional, spiritual and ethical. And that train business? Why make a crappy trip shorter when you could make a long trip enjoyable for less money? The models were a joke, but the reasoning still stands.

[@Zander101084]

meaning you