Last year I learned about Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED), a nonprofit that supports Ideas Worth Spreading. It’s a conference that brings together inspirational people from all three fields with the overarching mission of spreading ideas. The speakers and their talks are then posted onto the website, where it can be accessed by anyone who is interested. They also have the talks available to download on itunes and on your desktop.
Here is the link: TED

Last week, I watched one on advertising and the power of creating perceptions by Rory Sutherland of Ogilvy & Mather’s. According to him, advertising is incredibly powerful because it’s ability to change the perception of a given product, rather than changing the product itself. Sutherland plays with the idea of how much change you can get from altering only the perception of a product than having to go through the tedious process of changing the product itself. This form of advertising and marketing is used all the time on consumers such as ourselves. He then discusses the power of a product so democratic and transparent that even the President and the transient on the corner can get the same thing – Coca Cola. Sutherland explores the idea of “true” value in the material goods that we consume in this video:

It’s important to realize the power of perceptions and values that effect us on a daily basis. This video gave me some food for thought and a chance to reflect on what holds the most value in my life.

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