Dan Cobley: What physics taught me about marketing

[hrvoe123]

0:48 the bottom left... LOOK AT THAT GUY WITH THE BEARD::: JESUS

[ando1135]

Uh...BPs accident wasnt "little" and hondas recall was necessary to prevent deaths. those are pretty big things...nothing small about them. thats like saying "john doe was such a nice person all his life, until he had that small slip up of mass murdering an entire school"....

[juliacotic]

I've been watching your videos..grate

[ROSSiJOEx]

my surname is cobley arghhhhh

[Ypipable]

Just imagine...think about it.

[hyperbolaisagraph]

2:32 It's h-bar, not h!

[xjustamem0ryx]

anyone else expecting him to bust into jumping jacks or tae bo?

[djmarcos702]

3:30 no one laugh at the porn joke crowd must have been like holly shit google knows

[gusphraba]

Didn't the Toyota story turn out to be just bad luck with people trying to scam? It wasn't their fault at all.

[emotevlog]

Physics teaches you E = MC^2 Something sells better (energy) if it is a good product (mass) but also if it is marketed well (acceleration)

[sithvincent]

This is nothing but mental masturbation. True this guy's smart, but his link to physics that he is underlining is not why he succeeds.

[mattman6264]

non informative

[elmahia]

i want that shirt~

[museumofbrands]

A great effort at building bridges between 'science' and the wider world - and marketing greater awareness of science.

We need more Dan Cobley's to popularise greater understanding and engagement with science. Otherwise, science will remain misunderstood and mistrusted.

[tinosnit]

That should be a hbar, buddy!

[wizkidme]

Good speech, but I must say that the analogy comes across as very last minute.

hotel room the night before

[12354blahbla]

that dumbass completey messed up Heisenberg's uncertanty principal.

The location and momentum of particles is uncertain because particles are actually in a superposition wave when they are not interacting with other particles.

[ALPHADESIGNTAMPICO]

@12354blahbla Sorry but what you say is that the particles are ocupying the same space? I have know the principle as this person explained it. The mesurement of one thing messes up the other thing. Maybe I'm wrong but would like to know what you are saying. Greetings!

[Janusha]

These are all very long stretches and has got NOTHING to do with physics.

[parhhesia]

Einstein once said something like "to describe human society in terms of physics is not only wrong, it is also repugnant".

However, in the world of ideas and culture, inertia, observer effect and unavoidable shifts in meaning are always issues to some extent.. The world of brands is a subset of that world, so it manifests these characteristics. At a high enough level of abstraction, of course, you can draw analogies between anything, and this guy went pretty high.

[parhhesia]

Einstein once said something like "to describe human society in terms of physics is not only wrong, it is also repugnant".

However, in the history of ideas and culture, inertia, observer effect and unavoidable shifts in meaning are always an issue to some extent.. The world of brands is a subset of that world, so it manifests these characteristics. At a high enough level of abstraction, of course, you can draw analogies between anything, and this guy went pretty high.

[parhhesia]

Einstein once said something like "to describe human society in terms of physics is not only wrong, it is also repugnant".

However, the history of ideas and culture reveals a great deal of inertia, observer effect and an unavoidable shifts in meaning. The world of brands is a subset of that world, so it manifests these characteristics.

[noobler9]

not a bad speech, good useage of metaphors and analogies in driving home the key points of marketing alongside pretty good humour to keep the audience attentive

[Basetrem]

marketing is for fags

[Mu5clehead]

@Basetrem lmao faggit

[BBthzPrisonerOfWar]

2 seconds in "If you work in marketing kill yourself"

[MomoTheBellyDancer]

This is what you get when you read physics books while smoking weed. 

[Isabels100day]

I think the physics just makes the marketing lesson entertaining and more clear. It's not that the physics is the power that's actually teaching.

[DiScUrNmEnT]

What a bunch of jargon junk.....

[doctorHOUSE]

this is worse than deepak chopra usuing quantum speek to sell his books

[5233484]

it's O.K i guess, but definitely not worth spreading..

[ajhurliman]

rofl... this is a farce

[ROCKNTV1]

no,, thnk u

[marcotenshi]

=[ That's not the uncertainty principal. The uncertainty principal is that some pairs of variables in QM are such that precise measurement of one precludes precise measurement of the other. It was in the equation! What he described is the observer paradox I think.

[Trigunflame]

Tedtalks gets worse by the year.. horrible.

[gotomstergo]

everyone knew about this.. duh

[Ditrix88]

This may be the worst TED talk ever.

[papercut3619]

There's something I can't agree, but it's a interesting way of thinking on the whole.

[okonomiyaki4U]

First he says that it needs a lot of force to change the position of a big brand and then he disproves his own statement with the BP example...... well seems like in his world the laws of physic are more like guidelines than actual rules.....

[hcortens]

@okonomiyaki4U i thought it was obvious that he meant a positive change. durrrr

[kixswish]

not cool :(

[firstofthecouncil]

3:26 ' very few people say that they look at porn.. here at google we know it's the number one search'

XD

[Teabonesteak]

Bill Hicks on Marketing 

[dukestt]

@Teabonesteak "I go through two packs a day man!!" lol

[Teabonesteak]

@dukestt ...two lighters a day, that is a heavy smoker.

[Treknologist]

He kind of doesn't explain the uncertainty priciple right.

[paganiniGOGO]

The second law of thermodynamics: TED starts out as an attempt to popularize interesting scientific ideas, and disorder increases to the point where the profession of turning the population into passive consumers, known as marketing, is confused with genuine science.

[SuperiorApostate]

I wish physics would have taught him something about physics.

[Kreadus005]

I don't like this man's silly marketing analogies.

[TheSpankymonkey]

@Kreadus005 - Neither do I. I am sure you could do a pretty similar talk with most subjects. Gardening, mechanics, taking a nice morning dump or even wanking........... although granted, the last two would be in very poor taste.

[ramenx2]

@Kreadus005

its okay he doesn't know you exist, so keep on disliking his analogies - its not like anything will change.

[xjustamem0ryx]

Seemed like a rather shady analog, though with good intention.

More like a case of:

"Light travels faster than sound. That's why most people seem bright until you hear them speak."

[egdapo]

@xjustamem0ryx classic hahaha!!! permission to steal that last line?

[xjustamem0ryx]

@egdapo

be my guest :)

[gulllars]

@xjustamem0ryx This was a good talk, and he's got good arguments for his points, but as the sometimes over-analyzing mind i am, i abstracted and analyzed his base point; knowledge of physics can translate to marketing.

I will suggest you may go one step further, and say knowledge of fundamental concepts and how to analyze problems to apply them translate to any practical field. Physics teaches both many fundamental concepts, and how to apply them to solve problems, but other sciences also do.

[TheProdigySupreme]

me don't like

[dusthat]

Hey AT&T - thanks for the sponsorship of TED. But - if you want to have increased access to new businesses, we need net neutrality. We cannot have established players controlling were people go on the Internet.

[genertype]

@dusthat Damn good comment

[ancoreal]

Only that the two things sound alike does not mean that they are based on the same laws. This is a bullshit talk.

[thetravelingboy]

You know what you should have put up instead? Sarah Silverman.

[AesopRockOn]

This would barely be enlightening to Roger Sterling.

Thumbs down.

[MrIonization]

i was wronged again and again by physics in university...

[vespahistory]

everything i need to know i learned in physics!

[ceresWar]

wow this talk is stupid!!!!

[un2mensch]

Shouldn't this be called "Ancedotal similarities between concepts from physics and marketing"? Physics isn't teaching you shit about marketing. You're only finding parallels. Thumbs down.

[unperson123]

@un2mensch Hater.

[egdapo]

agreed there wasnt as much meat in this lecture compared to others, hell it even feels like he's ticking something on his bucket list or someone dared him to speak on TED and he quickly threw something together...

but the fact is, he's got some tangible points there

[NilNeiro]

great lecture 

[delatroy]

bullshit lecture

[asparwhite86]

this was a waste of time.

[majinspy]

This is TED fluff. I agree with JoeBrenan below, this is just eloquent words. Noone is going to scour physics books looking for parallels in marketing.

[DavidSabine]

Marketing agents are largely responsible for the trivial economies built by consumerism and which have led to the current crisis of capitalism. Marketing agents should be held accountable for their deceipt.

[leejae]

@DavidSabine learn to spell and then come back

[DavidSabine]

@leejae Are you so daft that you didn't understand what I had written? "deceit" ...does that make you happy? The fact is, that word shares a history with receipt and thus I'd argue that either spelling is appropriate - the development of the word "deceit" could have just as easily included the "p" but somewhere along the way a remarkable author probably MISPELLED it and thus set the current more widely-accepted precedent.

Snob.

[leejae]

@DavidSabine no I still don't understand what you are saying because you don't know what you're talking about

[jamoramajam]

There's learning from physics, and there's relating similar examples. It is much too easy to relate such.

[JoeBrenan]

This theory has no connections to physics. It's Just well, "well worded."

[thesocalwholesaler]

LOL all these people who don't like marketing obviously don't own their own business. Hope 9 to 5 treats you well suckaz. But anyway... marketing is just a fancy way of saying "Getting the word out." Nothing more than payed evangelists of businesses and products everywhere.

There's something to learn from everyone I suppose. But don't hate what you don't understand. Peace.

[rafaelz713]

Wow, I don't think I have never thumbs down a TEDtalk video till now..

[btorkian]

that's not physics! just some poetic metaphors!

[JeanKM1]

@btorkian Metaphors, analogies, seems that way to me, too.

[btorkian]

that's not physics! just some poetic metaphors!

[nickwatchesthis]

fuck this dumb fuck

[CHVNX]

"I work in marketing, which I love."

How does it feel knowing most people don't like you?

[Teabonesteak]

"By the way, if anyone in here is in advertising or marketing...kill yourself"

-Bill Hicks-

[dannyboyfour]

I want my 8 minutes back!

[x3ICEx]

@dannyboyfour ...you watched the advert? Oh my.

[dannyboyfour]

Piece of shit.

[nothingnesswithouten]

So basically physics has nothing to say about marketing unless you stretch analogies to breaking points.

[DimitriGoryenko]

@nothingnesswithouten i was drinking when i read that, i almost gagged up all my water. ROFL!

[nothingnesswithouten]

@DimitriGoryenko Cool! Your comment brightened my day!

[VitriolicAC]

@nothingnesswithouten Well, that's what people with marketing experience are good at. Spouting a bunch of bullshit.

[hcortens]

@nothingnesswithouten you summed up what i was thinking beautifully

[nothingnesswithouten]

@hcortens aw shucks thanks!

[MrStartingGun]

Wow, his idea about Ptolemy and Copernicus is kind of sketchy. Wasn't a single robust observation, it was a revolutionary way of accounting for lots of difficult observations that were already known.

[Starfuchs]

Did this guy also make the study that found why people shop at discounters?

Study result: They shop there because it is cheaper

good job captain obvious, here have this rock!

[poolboyinla]

This got talked a lot but didn't say much of anything.

[malakiblunt]

TED has lost the plot im unsubscibing

[DonQuichotteLiberia]

All of what he said means nothing. It's a typical "humanities" approach: spot seemingly similar aspects and use them as a base for a huge tower of bullshit.

[ariiiiigold]

A faggot if I ever saw one.

[KiLLAxMAHN]

@skorpen2 Marketing is cool.

[vinniechan]

I think rather than learning anything new, the important thing is the mind set.

[Kitsua]

You can't put a price on passion.

[Casmige]

=OoO=

.......uuuuuuhhhhhhhhhh, Whaaa?

Quantum Marketing based upon an Elliot Wave or ambiguous particle marketing principle which will soon be supplanted by relationship marketing: Intelligently designed evolution...Fibonaccian analysis & retracement made upon punctual profundity & with hasty perspicuity.

In the end? there can be only one (MacLeod said).

(All that made MUCH more sense than what HE said)

GaaaaaaaaaaccccccccK!

[VitriolicAC]

Yay, a whole bunch of metaphors.

...

[RDJim]

so what have we learned? nothing. seems like fluff to me.

[rtsownage]

ENTROPY <3

[atheistkyo]

Science is useful to everything we do because science explains nature, so if you don't understand basic scientific principles you don't understand life and life.

No science= Idiots

[thesocalwholesaler]

@atheistkyo science EXPLAINING nature is kind of a big statement. I don't know taht it explains all of nature... In fact when I look at us on a universal scale we haven't explained shit.

Scientists and all scientific fields are made of people who like to dabble in God's intricacies.

[JLJorgenson18]

I would explain the repositioning of brands with the psychological bias of believing people can only be great at one thing. It is the same reason why when many actors try to do music, they end up failing at it. They may actually be good, but it is that bias that makes us believe that they are at their limit of productivity with acting. It is the same thing with brands when they try to be good at more than one thing.

[doorki42]

always bashing the marketing people think about this: every product on the shelf represents someones dream " i want to make the best of this...provide the world that make a living doing this. marketing makes it possible. so and so makes the best cookies(or whatever) in the world decides to package and sell them but then sinks into despair and destitution when no one buys them. the marketer gets it out there makes your success. don't hate because you follow learn and choose

[egdapo]

@doorki42 well said man, well said

[Tgclove]

Congratulations Dan, you learned something worth knowing...

[psalib89]

weak

[simonbour]

eventhough it's true that by measuring you modify what's being measured, heisenberg's inequality has nothing to do with measuring! the particle's position and momentum are not defined, whether you measure or not!

[xNickTheBrickx]

Should be called: "How marketing taught me how to market physics"

[iviewthetube]

I hope the next TEDtalks is:

What is physics teaching us about physics?

[TheJaredtube]

Good video! Thanks Ted

[sk1llshot]

these are just metephors.. stupid

[fdmipgo]

Did he make this speech while waiting for his turn? This seems like a weak blog rather than a Ted talk.

[LanteanKnight]

@fdmipgo

Hmm I didn't feel that way.

He just seemed a little nervous.

[sciencemile]

<.< how did the Bill Hicks cultists get in here?

[hellomarkrodriguez]

@sciencemile We are everywhere.

[DJTmaq]

Al Gore is a fraud, i hate seeing him in TED's video intro.

[LudicrousTachyon]

He should talk to the RIAA and MIAA about entropy.

[XaneCrazy]

@TerhiTheFinn damn straight

[skorpen2]

I don't understand why people in marketing are so proud of it..

[tkherbi9a]

@skorpen2 hahahahaha i know right :D my bf is too

they think they control people's minds ... they do (for most brainwashed tv lovers) but not mine :D

[ManicMindTrick]

@skorpen2

I'm with Bill Hicks on this one.

Seriously people..kill yourself.

[skorpen2]

@ManicMindTrick Bill Hicks was great. Still is.

[hungsolow123]

@skorpen2 I agree 100%. Everyone sit back and think about all the different careers and imagine the entirety of a particular career suddenly disappearing from the planet. I think marketing is the #1 example of such a scenario where their disappearance would not only be negligible, but would likely be nothing but a great benefit to humankind. As Bill Hicks (amazing comedian) would say to all of those in marketing - you add nothing of value to this planet.

[egdapo]

@hungsolow123 wow, no offense but saying marketing adds nothing of value is rather ignorant, marketing is ALL about adding value! why do u pick already squeezed and bits-removed OJ from ur supermarket everyday instead of oranges from the farmer's market? its marketing!

same goes with farmer's market potatoes vs cleaned/bagged potatoes... people always vote yes to the value marketing adds everyday with their hard-earned money buying packaged potatoes in this example... :)

[hungsolow123]

@egdapo You're absolutely incorrect. Marketing creates the illusion of value - that's it's very purpose. Things with intrinsic and obvious value need no marketing.

Your examples are grossly in error as well. I don't purchase OJ from the farmers market simply because it's too far away. No one markets me OJ - I enjoy the flavor, its health benefits and so on.

Marketing is the process by which companies convince you that you need something when in reality it's something you simply want.

[ratholin]

@skorpen2 simple. Everyone can say that people are stupid and easily lead but only marketing people get to make their living off of proving it.

[oicub2]

@skorpen2 biological reductionism

[DrNate89]

@skorpen2

Because it's the easiest, most relaxed, bullshitty way to make six figures.

[Jointi5]

@skorpen2 I don't understand why people BLA BLA BLA so much..

[egdapo]

@skorpen2 we're proud of it cos we're the main wheel in the world's economic engine

[skorpen2]

@egdapo main wheel? - funny.. you're more like the steroids in the economy. We don't really need you, and you're very expensive. And there are side effects..

[egdapo]

@skorpen2 ha! u dont really need us?

Imagine u write a physics book for high school students tomorrow like several other million of u do at some point in ur lives (usually 6-9 years to retirement) and who do u think makes sure that urs stands out the most to ensure more students see, buy and use the great physics content in ur book?

[skorpen2]

@egdapo that's my point.. even if I wrote a shitty book, you would, for the right amount of money, do anything to pollute the schoolsysteem with it.. thanx.

[egdapo]

@skorpen2 i definitely would take that money... and who's responsibility is it that the content in his book (his legacy to the world) isnt shitty?

And remember, a shitty book is always a shitty book, it wont stay on bestseller lists for any amount of time no matter how much marketing power put is behind it.

I view us marketers as the magnifying glass that blows up the image in HD of what a product is really about. Asides that, take the very handy Dyson vacuum cleaner...

[egdapo]

@skorpen2 Dyson invented is vacuum cleaner and for 10 whole years thru his solo-hustle efforts he was only able to get distribution in Japanese catalogues = meager sales of a great product, fast-forward 10 years later, one television ad campaign extolling the dyson vacuum's uniquness and James' Dyson is worth 1.1billion pounds.

Now tell me u werent thankful that we brought u many formerly unique, unpopular but now household products like the dyson?.. Thanx.

[RvLeshrac]

@egdapo Dyson vacuums, dollar-for-dollar, are no more effective than any other vacuum cleaner brand.

Marketing, however, would have most people believe that Dyson has produced the most amazing product that has ever existed in the history of mankind.

[egdapo]

@RvLeshrac aww c'mon man, where's the proof in ur comment a la dollar-for-dollar? it may just be ur opinion but its been scientifically proven that dysons' are by far the superior vacuum brand in existence right now

[RvLeshrac]

@egdapo Consumer Reports consistently rates Dyson vacuums well. They also consistently rate Dyson vacuums behind just about every other major brand, partially because Dysons tend to run 4-10x the price.

There's nothing WRONG with a Dyson vacuum. There's just nothing it can do that a good Eureka or Hoover can't.

[Stannoz]

@skorpen2 

[Mogsoup4]

@skorpen2 It's basically psychology with different wording...which is basically applied biology...which is applied chemistry....hey look that's applied physics! I'm assuming by your comment you understand that portion of it. (no sarcasm) Does everybody really assume "Jack of all trades, master of none"? If a system approaches equilibrium then how has marketing come to exist so prominently if you guys think it's useless?

[KaylinJH]

suckers of satans cock! all of them! fucking marketers

[Th3Wab3]

@KaylinJH haha i see you're a fan of dilbert...

[gabydewilde]

fail

[isambo400]

Can we get a TED talk about the existence of clouds? Maybe compare them to Christopher Columbus or something.

Or maybe one arguing that magic isn't real... oh wait

[infantileretard]

It's like hes trying so hard to find a connection with physics just to sound smart. Ugh...totally weaksauce analogies.

[IdleGod]

@infantileretard Even incorrect on at least one point. Entropy always increases... !on a closed system!... Otherwise, interesting.

[KnightsofEmerald]

Physics is the fundamental for everything.

[NekoMouser]

I'm not buying any of it until they finally crack that Unified Marketing Theory nut.

Fun talk.

[ligthert]

How would the standard model apply?

[Hamandchees3]

marketing common sense illustrated with weak analogies.