A year ago, I sent out an email with the subject line,
“Business Prediction: Welcome to the Age of Aquarius”
In that email, I made the claim that the world has gone through three distinct ages of consumption.
The first was the Age of Stuff. That age was made up of straight-up consumerism — Cadillacs and and Frigidaires and Armani suits — which became dominant after WWII. It was about what you own.
The second consumption age was the Age of Experiences. It began around 1990, or at least that’s when I became aware of it. Amazing Thai food, swimming with the dolphins, a visit to Ernest Hemingway’s favorite bar in Key West. It was about what you’ve done.
My claim was that the third age of consumption, in which we are now, is the Age of Transformation. It’s about who you would like to become. Crossfit, sex-reassignment surgery, Masterclass subscriptions.
Like I said, I sent that email a year ago. A year is a long time. I have been enlightened greatly in that time, and I want to share with you some of the things I have seen.
What I have seen is that, mirroring the world of production and consumption, there have been parallel shifts in the world of marketing and advertising.
What I have seen is that the world has gone through three distinct ages of marketing.
The first age was described by copywriter John E. Kennedy. Kennedy correctly divined that advertising is salesmanship in print. As a result, Kennedy gave birth to the Age of Promise:
“Let this Machine do your Washing Free”
The second marketing age was identified by a clever astrological duo, Al Ries and Jack Trout. According to their occult research, some fifty years after Kennedy, advertising had gotten to a point where promises were insufficient — there were just too many players in the market. As a result, we entered the Trout and Ries age, the Age of Positioning:
“Avis is only No. 2 in rent a cars. So why go with us? We try harder.”
And now, if my calculations are right, we are now entering the third age.
It’s the Age of Insight.
Today, a hundred years after John E. Kennedy, it’s no longer enough to make a promise and build up desire.
Today, fifty years after Trout and Ries, it’s no longer enough to give people a mental hook to hang your name on.
Today, the smartest marketers — people like Rich Schefren, Travis Sago, and Stefan Georgi — are doing something different. They are using specific and subtle techniques to take the disgust with manipulation, the disappointment of previous purchases, the confusion and uncertainty and indifference that most of us feel on some level…
… and transform them into something new. Into something motivating. Into something contagious.
Into the feeling of insight.
Maybe you find that idea intriguing. Or maybe you find it confusing.
If so, don’t worry. You are in luck, or rather, you are in the right place at the right time.
I’ll be telling you more about insight over the coming two weeks.
Because, as you can probably guess, I’m promoting something. I’m promoting a series of live trainings, all about the Age of Insight. In these trainings, I will tell you how you can align yourself to this new age in such a way that you prosper and surpass those marketers who do not yet possess this esoteric knowledge.
The first of these live training calls will happen on December 1. So I will be talking the Age of Insight until the end of this month, when registration for this training will close.
If at any point you decide that this is an opportunity you do not want to miss, you can get the full details on my Age of Insight training, or even register for it, at the page below: