160
Xbox is rebranding to XBOX
(www.theverge.com)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 16 May 2026
160 points (100.0% liked)
Not The Onion
21496 readers
1123 users here now
Welcome
We're not The Onion! Not affiliated with them in any way! Not operated by them in any way! All the news here is real!
The Rules
Posts must be:
- Links to news stories from...
- ...credible sources, with...
- ...their original headlines, that...
- ...would make people who see the headline think, “That has got to be a story from The Onion, America’s Finest News Source.”
Please also avoid duplicates.
Comments and post content must abide by the server rules for Lemmy.world and generally abstain from trollish, bigoted, ableist, or otherwise disruptive behavior that makes this community less fun for everyone.
And that’s basically it!
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Well, it is important, but not as much as these people think it is
It exists. I’m unconvinced that it’s “important.”
Internet advertising has taught us a lot. Every single part of it is trackable so you can see what value you’re getting from it. And that value is tiny. This is why internet ads are a mess. It’s a fuck-shit stack of deceptive trash because that’s the only thing that can actually bring home a fraction of a penny. Display ads are like chemical suits: they do nothing!
That's not necessarily how ads work though. Who clicks on an ad anyway? But a few months after seeing it, you're looking into buying something and you remember the brand or website from the ad you saw. Or heard on the radio.
Incidentally, I know someone who quintupled a company's sales in a foreign country subsidiary in a few months by increasing ad spend. The upper leadership in the home country was against it since "we have a strategy and it works" but since he took control of the subsidiary, he could take the risk and disobey orders. Back home it's a known brand already, but nobody knew it in that particular target market.
then there's Huy Fung foods.. they didn't advertise for shit, made sriracha sauce and sold like crazy because his product wasn't a pile of hot garbage.. he didn't needs to rely on lies (marketing) and advertising (more lies). make something good, and consistent and people will buy it
also don't treat your farmer like an idiot if you wanna stay in business but ya know.. another story
The thing about marketing, and branding is, it's less about selling the product immediately, and more about keeping the brand identity in peoples minds.
There used to be a time in the 1960s when Howard Johnson was one of the most dominant brands of hotels in America. They existed at the height of family road trips. The boomers were anywhere between 5 years old and 20 years old. So mostly at an age when they're kids/teens. So they became the brand of ice cream at the hotels for the kids, good nights rest for the parents. But they never evolved as the boomers grew up, and the family road trip died off. Today, the brand is totally dead. It's the Ask Jeeves of hotel brands.
But now look at Coke. Their ads don't ever entice you to drink coke. They don't really advertise the product. They advertise the brand. You see polar bears telling a short story, in 15 seconds. Followed by the coke logo. You don't get "HEY EVERYBODY!!! DRINK COKE!!! IT'S DELICIOUS!!!"
They don't do that. They don't advertise a product, they advertise firmiliarity with a brand so when you're in a store, and see soft drinks, you recognize the coke logo. Eventually you start seeking it out. And now those ads are no longer about advertising. They're about conditioning. And it works. When's the last time you had Jerrys old time cola? Or RC Cola? Maybe pepsi. But there's a reason "Is Pepsi ok?" Is the meme, and the answer is no.
I don’t doubt that in some situations, when everything else is primed - the product is good, the market is there, and awareness is the only thing lacking - advertising can make a difference.
For every anecdote like your friend’s, though, I can produce a hundred where millions just went into a hole for absolutely nothing.