Brands of Magic – I
Some years ago, I was approached by representatives of a major marketing company who wanted to explore the possibilities of using direct magical techniques to promote a product. I cannot discuss this in more depth, as I signed a non-disclosure agreement. Suffice to say, I did not agree with what they wanted to do, and we parted ways on good terms. I did get some material benefit out of the affair. They rang my boss (I was working for a b2b media company at the time) and asked for a reference. My boss, alarmed at the idea that I was being head-hunted by another company, decided to reward me for my work with a present – a state-of-the-art (for 2000 anyway) laptop. I still have it.
I have long considered advertising to be a form of magic. As Eric Arnould, Julien Cayla & Delphine Dion assert in opening their contribution to the book Magical Capitalism:
“We examine two different organizational worlds—market research and luxury marketing—and show that in both domains, magical practices are ubiquitous. Our research features marketing executives fetishizing the figure of the consumer and endowing consumer images and talk with magical powers. In addition, we describe creative directors from the luxury world who behave similar to traditional sorcerers: playing with their magical powers to transform ordinary objects into works of art. Across these distinct organizational contexts, we demonstrate that modern organizations are far from being well-oiled rationalist machines, or, if they are, the oil that makes business churn is the power of magic.”
There is a wealth of material out there on the relationship between magic and marketing, ranging from how advertisers drew on occult theories of colour, to the increasing use of magical signs and symbols in fashion and product packaging. A major driver of this trend is how occult signs have been associated with individualism and self-discovery. Marketeers, ever-attentive to the relationship between product choice and identity-building are well aware of contemporary occulture, and that the occult is no longer marginal and hidden; it is an ever-present element of the mediascape. Occultists and magicians might not like this, and might deny, even as they release books and promote online courses and services that they are engaging in the grubby business of consumerism. But, if they want to carve out a space for themselves as an ‘influencer’ or respected source of information, then there is little option but to engage with it. They might of course manage to position themselves to an audience segment that prides itself on not being consumers. I’ve already seen a few online courses given by occultists who claim to have mastered the esoteric arts of marketing.
I note with interest that some of today’s magical megastars are employing specialists in social media marketing to promote their work or at least manage multiple social media accounts on their behalf. Upping your profile means more engagement. Engagement might not translate directly into sales, but it certainly helps. Of course, there are risks. An increasing problem seems to be people who set up fake social media profiles mimicking an influencer’s name and brand, then trying to wring money out of the author or influencer’s audience. Check out this article by Mat Auryn.
The notion that consumers are passive, docile subjects has long since been discarded (at least by industry professionals). We can now draw on models of engagement that emphasize that it is a highly complex, multi-modal, and multisensory experience and that different audiences respond in different ways, and have different expectations.
Brown & Ratzkin (2011) for example, have identified four key spectra in audience engagement (in respect to the arts): social vs. solitary, active vs. passive, peer-based vs. expert-led, and community vs. audience. They also identify six common modes of engagement:
- (i) reading;
- (ii) critical review
- (iii) casual talking
- (iv) technology-based processing
- (v) insight seeking
- (vi) active learning.
Of course, engagement is open to abuse and manipulation, but there are indications that audiences respond more positively when providers act as enablers as opposed to gatekeepers, focusing on co-creation and interaction. Some researchers have suggested that engagement is similar to playfulness, and stress the importance of novelty and variety.
This is all in the way of an introduction to what I will consider in a follow-up post – the contention that magical traditions or systems are increasingly becoming a form of product brand.
[Disclosure: I do not have a background in marketing or advertising. I’ve worked for a few media companies, both small and corporate. I have some experience in circulation, data management, and web/digital media analytics, but that ended in 2015.]
Sources
Brian Moeran, Timothy de Waal Malefyt (eds). 2018. Magical Capitalism: Enchantment, Spells, and Occult Practices in Contemporary Economies. Springer.
Brown, A. S. & Ratzkin, R. 2011. Making Sense of Audience Engagement: A Critical Assessment of Efforts by Nonprofit Arts Organizations to Engage Audiences and Visitors in Deeper and More Impactful Arts Experiences. The San Francisco Foundation.
