Advertising and Marketing: Selling Abstract Concepts

Great brands do not sell products, they sell abstractions.

The field of marketing and advertising has mastered a highly sophisticated form of communication: the selling of abstract objects.

In fact, one could argue that this is its main specialty or its "trump card".

While a consumer believes he or she is buying a physical object, big brands understand that their real business is not the product itself, but the intangible concept it represents.

They do not market mere goods, but sell aspirations, feelings and ideas. The concrete product is only the vehicle; the valuable cargo is the abstraction it promises to deliver.

Understanding this premise is fundamental to deciphering the persuasive language that surrounds us on a daily basis.

What are department stores really selling? Status, prestige and lifestyle

To illustrate this concept, let's consider large luxury department stores.

If we ask ourselves what they sell, the superficial answer would be clothes, shoes, jewelry or accessories. However, that answer is incomplete.

Those are the products they sell, but not what they actually sell.

What a customer acquires by shopping in these places are the powerful abstract objects of status, prestige and a certain lifestyle.

The consumer does not pay a high price for the cotton of a shirt, but for the sense of exclusivity and success that the brand of that shirt confers.

The transaction goes beyond the material and into the realm of identity and social aspiration.

How advertising anchors these concepts to concrete objects (clothing, jewelry, cars).

A logical question then arises: how can something as intangible as "prestige" or "lifestyle" be sold? The answer lies in the anchoring or positioning process.

Advertising gives a perceptible "body" to these abstract concepts by associating them directly with concrete objects.

Prestige does not smell or feel, but advertising gives it the scent of an expensive perfume or the texture of the leather of a designer handbag.

Status materializes in the form of fine jewelry or a high-end vehicle.

In this way, the concrete object becomes the tangible symbol that gives communicability and access to the abstract object that the consumer really wants.

Understand this strategy to be more persuasive communicators.

Analyzing and understanding this advertising strategy offers us a double lesson of incalculable value.

On the one hand, as communicators, we learn a powerful persuasion technique: to make our abstract ideas (such as "innovation," "safety" or "collaboration") more attractive and understandable, we must anchor them to concrete examples, stories and results.

On the other hand, as consumers, this knowledge empowers us. It allows us to be more aware and analytical, able to separate the real value of the physical product from the abstract promise that advertising sells us.

This discernment helps us make more rational purchasing decisions and be less susceptible to persuasive manipulation.

Summary

The field of marketing and advertising has dominated the selling of abstract objects, this being its main specialty. Big brands understand that their real business is not the product, but the intangible concept it represents.

Luxury department stores don't just sell clothes or jewelry; they sell the powerful abstract objects of status, prestige and lifestyle. The consumer does not pay for the cotton, but for the sense of exclusivity that the brand confers.

Advertising succeeds in selling the intangible by anchoring it to concrete objects. Prestige takes on the scent of an expensive perfume, and status materializes in the form of a piece of jewelry or a high-end vehicle.