The Beginning

Welcome to the Gruen Transfer. I created this blog in order to further my marketing knowledge by attempting on a weekly basis to analyze an advertisement I have found and try and break down on what levels it does and does not work.

Now I'm sure the obvious point here is 'Isn't the show on the ABC with the same name doing the exact same thing except that they know what they're doing?'. Well...yes. However in the process of coming up with a name there was simply nothing I could come up with that would be as suiting as the Gruen Transfer. Now one thing I'm sure few of you are aware of is what the Gruen Transfer actually means. It isn't just the name for a show it is actually a marketing term. Here's a wikipedia exert that I find to describe it best.

In shopping mall design, the Gruen transfer refers to the moment when consumers respond to “scripted disorientation” cues in the environment. It is named for Austrian architect Victor Gruen (who disavowed such manipulative techniques) and lately popularized by Douglas Rushkoff.

Now for those of you who don't exactly understand what this all means the basic jist is that when shopping and all of a sudden you move from your initial purpose, eg. Buying only bread, and move into considering other products, eg. Chocolate that has been placed on the end of an isle. This sudden snap into impulse buying as created by your surroundings is the Gruen Transfer.

For a site critiquing advertisements I believe this term is a perfect name since advertisements are so intertwined with this process. A perfect example of this would be chocolate advertisements. A chocolate advert may make you desire for chocolate, however in reality very few people will see a chocolate advert and head out however far it requires in order to obtain it. The true value is in when you head out for a staple good such as bread and then notice the chocolate and, for the most part subconsciously, remember just how much you wanted chocolate after viewing the advert and then consider purchasing it as to satisfy that desire.

Now one of the most important things about critiquing marketing is that it is completely subjective. One person may say something does not work for one reason and then the next may say it works for exactly that reason. The main point I have created this is to further my knowledge and the best way to do that is to get comments myself. There is nothing that would make me happier than seeing a 'But have you considered this?'

Anyway I hope you all see some merit to all of this and hope that overall everyone has something to gain from this blog. Now in order to start critiquing ads first of all I will need ads to analyze. I could just go picking whichever ones catch my eye however I would much rather be critiquing those that you all find puzzling so as to be aiding others. So if any of you have any advertising campaings you would like to see critiqued then simply add a comment to say so or email me.

Thankyou for your time and I hope you gained something from this.