Is this the end of unconscious consumerism and will AI proxies rewrite advertising?

"For more than a century, advertising has thrived on its ability to bypass rational thought and pull on consumers' emotions. From lipstick as liberation to diamonds as eternal love, brands built their fortunes on what futurist Danielle Dodoo calls "identity engineering." But, she warned, the era of manipulating the unconscious may be coming to a close. In its place, a new type of consumer is emerging - one whose decisions are increasingly mediated by AI."

"Speaking live on stage at The Drum Live, Dodoo challenged marketers to rethink their playbooks. "Advertising completely bypasses the neocortex, our system two thinking, and goes straight to the limbic emotional side," she explained. "So we are incredible targets for manipulation." From Edward Bernays selling fantasy to De Beers creating scarcity, the industry's craft has long been to exploit the "programmable self." But, she argued, this foundation is eroding fast."

"Dodoo framed consumer identity as fragmented, fluid and inherently insecure. She described three selves that advertisers have historically preyed on: the sore self ("I'm not good enough"), the aspirational self ("If I have this, I'll be happy") and the lost self ("I want to feel whole"). "This is exactly where you guys target - right in the middle, this insecure, unconscious, programmable self," she told the audience. The problem for marketers is that this battleground is shifting."

Advertising has long succeeded by bypassing rational thought and appealing directly to emotions, a practice that built fortunes through identity engineering. Brands have exploited fragmented, fluid and insecure consumer identities by targeting the sore self ("I'm not good enough"), the aspirational self ("If I have this, I'll be happy") and the lost self ("I want to feel whole"). Tactics such as selling fantasy and manufacturing scarcity relied on manipulating unconscious desires and the programmable self. Rapid advances in AI are shifting decision-making toward algorithms, undermining that foundation and forcing marketers to rethink playbooks for machine-mediated choices.

Read at The Drum