Reading Notes: How to Understand Brands（2）

Part 2. How to understand media/content/dissemination/ideological centralization?

The author attempts to combine media theory with the theory presented in "Consumption Society":

• Media is a product of the evolution of the consumer society;

• Content is a means by which consumerism self-realizes;

• Content is attached to media (e.g. the relationship between TikTok platform and TikTok content), and the former is largely limited by the latter; the former further influences how consumption will be manifested.

This is based on the theories of Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman. As an extension of the author's understanding, this can be seen as a concrete interpretation of the classical philosophical concept of "language determines the system of thought" in the era of new capitalism since the 19th century. This principle is also known as "linguistic relativity", proposed by linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf. Those interested in this theory can refer to the book "The Language Instinct: The New Science of Language and Mind", which argues that the origin of language has biological and genetic bases, and language is not something that can be arbitrarily created. The relationship between language and thought is also not a simple causal relationship.

However, the "media determinism" still has important and irreplaceable significance for our understanding of consumer goods. The reason is that the logic of consumer goods that we understand is a kind of push, rather than a force. Therefore, the analysis of consumer goods cannot be solely based on economic logic (supply and demand, bargaining power, substitution logic, which is very "straight male" and an absolute argument). Sufficient attention and judgment must be given to "micro changes".

To understand this, let us take the content of "The Tipping Point" as an example.

The Tipping Point: Three Rules of Popularity

The book "The Tipping Point" proposes three rules of popularity:

1. The Law of the Few (individuals rule)

2. The Stickiness Factor (the content factor)

3. The Power of Context (the environment factor)

In this chapter, we temporarily skip the Law of the Few and introduce the latter two rules.

The Stickiness Factor

Here, "stickiness" describes whether the content of dissemination has enough attractive and memorable "tickers."

"The Tipping Point" describes in detail the case of the American children's educational TV programs "Sesame Street" and "Blue's Clues."

In China, cases such as "Brain Gold" and "Milk Tea Ice City Sweet Sweet" can be used as examples. Although this topic can be explored in depth and has very complex scientific research, from the perspective of information transmission, traditional "three-pronged" marketing has indeed achieved the effect of "tickers."

The Power of Context

"The Tipping Point" gives two examples.

One example comes from the New York subway. In the mid-1980s in New York, the crime rate was extremely high, and crime was a very popular event, with an average of more than 2,000 murders per year. The improvement in public safety was due to a very small opportunity: the renovation of the New York subway environment, including graffiti removal and strict ticket evasion. This practice is a reverse application of the famous "broken window theory." The reason is that when the surrounding environment closely related to people's daily lives shows a scene of clutter, chaos, and poor conditions, it actually gives people a strong psychological suggestion: "This is not subject to rules," or "rules can be broken without paying any price." This instills a strong sense of insecurity and aggression in people's subconscious. Therefore, the probability of triggering violent behavior by very small triggers also invisibly increases.

The second example is the youth suicide rate.

Key Takeaways:

The book "The Tipping Point" provides two valuable learnings for investment:

1. The formation of a trend is not a linear process, but rather has clear "tipping points" that lead to explosive growth.

2. Remember that "micro changes matter". Whether it's the effects of subtle changes in information highlighted by the stickiness factor or the completely different effects of small changes in the environment in the power of context, the key takeaway is that micro changes near the tipping point can drive qualitative change, and the tipping point itself is built up by micro changes. This requires a thorough understanding of relative thinking, as opposed to the determinative thinking dominant in economics.

Neil Postman and McLuhan's Theories of Communication

Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman are two heavyweight figures in contemporary communication theory. Postman's theory can be understood as a further development of McLuhan's media technology determinism. Postman's most famous trilogy, "Amusing Ourselves to Death," "The Disappearance of Childhood," and "Technopoly," elaborates his media determinism from different dimensions and contains many interesting viewpoints. It's worth reading the original works if you have time.

The author tries to make a systematic summary of media determinism:

• Media is Information

• Media is Power

• Media is Value (Perspective)

Understanding this system helps us understand how the evolution of information, content, and channels has changed the structure of the current consumer society.

Media is information.

In his book "Amusing Ourselves to Death," Neil Postman titled the second chapter "Media as Epistemology." Postman compared the shaping of information through different media: before and after the appearance of print media, print media vs. radio, and the television era. Postman personally had a classical sentiment, believing that the era of print media better trained people's abstract and critical thinking abilities, while the television era was an "amusing ourselves to death" era because information was fragmented and focused on grabbing attention and ratings.

Furthermore, to extrapolate, the scale, transmission, and structure of information to some extent determine the form of human society, and further influence the structure and changes of the entire consumer system (corresponding to the principle of the "consumer society").

Media is Power

"Media as power" can be understood from two perspectives:

1. Channel as power: the tactics used in e-commerce and the era of traffic;

2. Information as power.

The medium is also a value (perspective).

An extended conclusion is that there is no such thing as a "technologically neutral" theory (e.g. Wang Xin, Zhang Yiming), technology itself has a natural value tendency, and under the premise of large-scale application of technology, its value tendency will be magnified into a set of values in society. Tools and technologies are created first, and the value after they are put into use is largely shaped by the evolution of social rules (although founders may have good value intentions). This history repeats itself, from Facebook to TikTok, and when developed to a certain scale, there are value controversies. We can clearly see the founders' pain and contemplation in these ethical storms, as well as their eventual compromise (e.g. Facebook banning Trump, which clearly shows Zuckerberg's violation of the early concept of freedom of speech; TikTok is also facing criticism for "milkshake videos", which it has yet to fully address).

To be continued...