WHAT IS MODERNISM AND POSTMODERNISM?
And what's it all got to do with marketing?
To understand postmodernism you have to understand modernism, which is not that easy, given that no one has a clear idea as to what it is and when it is supposed to have started. It's a bit like trying to nail custard to a wall, which is, in its way, very postmodernist.
To analyse and discuss modernism here would be dull and ultimately a waste of time.
So, just for the sake of argument, I reckon it all began with a Picasso painting back in 1907 called Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (see the picture). So, there you have it. That's as much as I have to say on the matter. I use art to pinpoint 'movements' in history, mainly because my dad was an artist and I was brought up to think like that and secondly, because it's easier, being very visual.
So, there it is - a painting of some prostitutes looking moody. Wonderful. The modernist movement begins.
And so we plod gently through art-deco, abstract and Russian revolutionary expressionism, pop art and lots of other exciting stuff to the sixties and seventies.
In architecture, modernism van be viewed as mainly the 'blocky' buildings which started in earnest around the fifties and sixties, like the old twin Trade Towers, Centre Point in London, and any 60s school buildings.
In marketing and sales, we're looking at similar sentiments. Stark, uncompromising and anything to get money. It's the world of Blake from 'Glengarry Glen Ross', the world of 'Madmen' and the world of salesmen out to sell at all costs and to show their prowess at every opportunity at duping a gullible public. No frills, no subtlety, just cunning men with sleeked-back hair counting out wads of money and driving fast cars. I'm being a little unfair here, I know, and have missed out lots of the subtleties of the time. But that was essentially what marketing and sales was in the 50s and 60s.
And people gradually got to loathe the sales person. To mistrust the promises. To shy away from the 'great offer'.
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And then came what some call postmodernism. Others just say it was just the natural evolution of marketing. The way it had to be when the internet started to extend its cobweb round the world.
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So, here we go with the age of the internet - the game changer. In the past, it was the 'guile' of the sales person that won or lost the day. It was the way the seller managed to get an 'angle' on the market and leapfrog the competition.
Now, it's all different. It really doesn't matter what the seller is up to. Saying that your product is great and that the price is unbeatable means absolutely nothing anymore.
So, what's changed? Well, the internet has handed over full power of the sale process to the buyer - the person in the street. People don't need to read what the manufacturer or sales people say. That has no relevance to the process nowadays.
Today is the age of the 'Trip Advisor' site, the time of 'customer power'. We now go online and straight to the starred ratings or the previous customer comments. And, if they are all good, then we buy or book. It only takes one or two adverse opinions and sales will drop. Customers really do have the whip-hand today.
So, postmodernist selling has ever more relevance. The chaotic, silly and random nature of postmodern marketing will always strike a chord with the customer, especially in this new age. Saying that your are 'not the best', or deliberately poking fun at your product shows the potential buyer a stark, refreshing honesty not seen before. And this is the is bedrock of this new-age marketing. Honesty, trust and telling the whole truth. And not because sales people have suddenly suddenly become self-righteous , but simply because they can't get away with being just 90% truthful or selective in their honesty anymore. The customer will exact revenge utterly and mercilessly, if duped in any way. The power has shifted completely.
It is the age of truth.
OK... before I get carried away with this sudden, refreshing breeze of honesty, gusting through the world of sales, I should touch on what postmodernism is, in other areas. The picture is of the famous 'Dancing' building in Prague,(dancing building prague) where normal building conventions have been thrown to the wind to create something truly remarkable, chaotic, humorous, unbelievable and spectacular. The old ways have been completely rejected. It also relates beautifully back to the last war when the Americans bombed the old version of this building - the new structure has a look of imminent collapse, as if something large has just struck it. Other great examples are the Hotel Marques de Riscal in Elcieg and the Guggenheim Museum, both in Spain (Hotel Marqués de Riscal, Guggenheim Museum) and in America, the Stata Centre (Stata Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.). Fantastic, breathtaking architecture. You may love or hate it, but you're certainly not going to forget it.
I could go on and talk about the new wave of postmodernist art, theatre and even literature, but I won't. I have already drifted off the point and should get back on track.
So... postmodernism in marketing and sales.
It should be enough to say that the internet has blurred the boundaries of marketing to the extent that no one really knows what's happening anymore. There are no real rules. A Boston Matrix has not been constructed yet to describe what's going on. You can throw away all your funnels, wheels and icebergs and start thinking about expanding your 4 'P's to include new factors such as personality, platform and partnership. The internet has allowed marketing people unlimited access to a global market of billions, at the click of a mouse, while giving all the power to the buyer. These are indeed exciting times.
Professor Stephen Brown of Ulster University said: 'Postmodernism is like bungee jumping into the past, parachuting into the future and idiot-dancing on the edge of the abyss.'
I'm happy to leave it at that.
(Picture shows me by Star Castle on St. Mary's in the Scilly Isles, staring into the future, unaware of the present and forgetting the danger of the past right behind me)
