Marketing can be used for Coca-Cola selling a bunch of shitty soda water to kids in some third world country that's going to kill them. Or it could be used for a nonprofit that's trying to save those kids and do good things. Marketing is agnostic. It's just a tool. And that's how all the cults and religions started. It was just storytelling. People needed an answer. They had a problem, which was, why do we live? Why is the world how it is? Well, how should we live our life? they needed a guide. There's always been a marketer. I think it's just ingrained in human nature.
Today Josh speaks with Sam McNerney about the growing conspiratorial culture in the West, its further detachment from reality, free will, and the implications of us potentially living in a simulation.
Some of the other things we dive into are:
- How marketers are like alchemists.
- QAnon as a marketing campaign.
- The root of cults and religion.
- Mental illness and mental viruses.
- The differences between marketing, storytelling, and being persuasive.
- What is our relationship to brands?
- The philosophical differences between chains and small businesses.
- Existentialism, secularism, and simulated realities.
- Mental health, religion, submission, and control.
- The Matrix, free will, and purpose.
- Does it matter if we live in a simulation?
- And so much more.
Sam McNerney is an applied behavioral scientist, market researcher, and brand strategist based in Brooklyn, New York. He has worked with brands such as Walmart, Procter & Gamble, and CitiBank.
As a writer, he has interviewed business and academic leaders including Arianna Huffington, Andrew Yang, Jonathan Haidt, and Charles Murray – and his essays have been featured in publications like The Washington Post, Psychology Today, and Scientific American.
Now as an independent consumer insights specialist, he specializes in using surveys to help businesses answer questions about their customers that unlock the greatest value.
Connect with Sam:
Music by Kirby Johnston – check out his band Aldaraia on Spotify