fear, after all, is our real enemy. fear is taking over our world. fear is being used as a tool of manipulation in our society. it’s how politicians peddle policy and how madison avenue sells us things that we don’t need." – a single man

the emotional component of the sales process is strong and, often, not very well understood. at our very first sales training we were given a copy of the one minute sales person, from which we gleaned the sales mantra that we continue to use to this day:

people don’t like to be sold, but people like to buy. therefore, it’s the sales person’s job to help people feel good about buying."

we at jetspace are doubly involved in the sales process, you see. not only are we attempted to help you feel good about buying our services, we’re attempting to help your audience feel good about buying yours. let’s face it; everyone is selling something these days. you sell thinga-mabobs or doo-dads and you need a business card, poster, banner ad or website to help you do so. we sell those things to you.

one thing we cannot abide by, however, is the manipulation of emotion through the manipulation of truth. in other words, make sure your ad doesn’t tell a lie. if you have a bad, harmful or defective product, don’t get a better marketing program. get a better product.

one group that seems to share this ideal with us, a group that we sort of fancy as the "robin hood" of the ad world, are the billboard liberation front. Through the simple manipulation of letters and/or words on a given billboard, the BLF turns the intended marketing message into a more ironic, if not truthful one. Several examples of their work can be viewed on their website, as can their manifesto, from which we take the follwing quote:

And so we see, the Ad defines our world, creating both the focus on image and the culture of consumption that ultimately attract and inspire all individuals desirous of communicating to their fellow man in a profound fashion."

while somewhat tongue in cheek, the above quote speaks directly to our point about the use of emotion in advertising. emotion is a powerful motivator in the the decision of whether or not to buy.