More on subliminal stimulation...

I drifted off to sleep last evening wondering whether the phrase "subliminal stimulation" was an appropriate description of the use of music on the Weather Channel. It is certainly a neat little phrase. But is it subliminal? Marketing and music have a long history, from the good old fashioned radio to the use of music in shopping environments. I've been using spotify to listen to music as of late. I like being able to generate a random playlist for different colours - type in white, and, every band or song with the word white in the title pops up. I've been through the rainbow in both english and german. What fun.

Another very clever way to market music has popped up. Barcodes. "Grum" is a U.K. dance producer that makes barcode posters one can point a mobile phone at to download a song. Read more here. 2-D matrix barcodes are all the rage in Japan, and a whole design industry has grown up around the idea. See some examples here. After all, why should a barcode be just a barcode? Why not make it a bit more fun? This is not a particularly new idea, but, it is one that is finally gaining some momentum in use. Expect more hieroglyphics to be entering your life soon.

Ah. Subliminal stimulation. That is the marketing strategy of this decade. Slide it in - outright selling is out out out. Make it fun. Make it participatory and interactive. And make it self-replicate. Don't make do, make it happen...

It will likely cost you something but you might forget that part.