2 documentaries about advertising that will make you smarter

Advertising, offline and increasingly online too, is one of those few disciplines at the crossroads of art and science, that enable us to take inspiration from pretty much anywhere: psychology, marketing, art, growth hacking…

Here are two documentaries that delve deep into advertising and marketing as well as intersecting topics like technology, design and entrepreneurship. They’ll make you think, laugh and maybe even want to change a few things.

So take a little time, it will be dam worth it!

1.The Persuaders

This amazing episode of PBS’ Frontline deals with the unique paradox of (our) persuasion industry: the more you advertise, the more clutter and noise you create. then you’re left with one solution to stand out: be even noisier than others to cut through that very clutter.
You end up keeping advertising in an endless, more and more rejected by consumers type of pushy advertising.

This wonderful piece of advertising kit-aid is packed with interviews with thought leaders and funny micro-stories about how cheese is still alive and loved in France but not in the U.S. I told ya, it’s a MUST SEE!

Original link: PBS Website
Released: 2004
Length: 90 minutes

Buzzwords: Emotional Branding, Lifestyle Brands, Canvassing, Segmenting

Why you should watch it ? Simply put, it’s a fantastic way to understand why we must think differently about the marketing mix and how we connect brands to consumers.

2.This Space Available

Take your backpack and travel in 11 countries on 5 continents in under an hour! This awesome documentary shows how different communities are responding to increased visual pollution from outdoor advertising.

As we are increasingly facing the same phenomenons online (ad blindness, on-purpose ad-bloacking, …), it it absolutely fascinating to see to think about the role of advertising and how to make it more meaningful.

The coverage of Sao Paulo (Brazil) is particularly interesting as the city banned all outdoor advertising in 2006, making it a compelling case study for reducing so-called visual pollution

Original website: This Space Available
Released: 2011
Length: 52 minutes

Buzzwords: Branding, Travel with Ads(!), Billboard, Outdoor Advertising, Public Ad Campaign, Visual Pollution

Why you should watch it ? You’ll be able to put in context and understand ad pollution. notably you’ll see that ad blocking is not a pure online trend, which is by the way on the rise according to Forbes.