Persuasive Technology Warfare : A premeditated attack on consumer Mindshare? You bet!

Human Killer Robots reveal::
Throughout the 80's and 90's technology vendors poured billions of dollars into research projects aimed at building new markets and leveraging existing ones through the application of new high-tech software products. They employed 100's of psychologists, technology gurus, security experts & marketing strategists to design strategies to entrench consumers in their products, via innovative, integrated, empowering, technology programmes. These strategies were forged against the political backdrop of a battle to dominate the international computer market. Whosoever controlled the perspective of the consumer, had a strong position in the marketplace upon which an even stronger position could be built. Vendors knew that to engage the consumer they would first need to get their attention, through effective viral marketing campaigns. They understood that they would need to produce highly persuasive devices to captivate their audience, by introducing alluring features in their products. Ultimately they knew that in order for the consumer to be permanently possessed, they would have to target them through ever more powerful persuasive propoganda strategies.

During this period "Systems Innovators" were instrumental in designing exploitative strategies for all of the major technology vendors. Today, these people can be found reconstituting billion dollar psychological warfare strategies designed to influence the consumers purchasing decisions and repackaging them for any type of organisation wishing to exploit their marketplace via the strategic application of information technology. You don't need to be a member of the techno-elite to benefit from their investment over the past 3 decades. You just need to understand how to weave these strategies into your own investments in technology deployment.

If you want to win the strategic battle in your particular marketplace and remain competitive, then you need to think like a "Systems Innovator" and apply technology with the intent and motivation of "an elite guerilla unit, priming their weapon systems for all out strategic and tactical warfare".

Strategic intent or All out Persuasive Warfare?

Rapid and tactical deployment of small technology increments which are highly adaptable and which fit into an over-arching, all-encompassing architecture. Paul Strassman (Director U.S DOD).

Read more about persuasive technology at http://captology.stanford.edu/

US DOD guerilla warfare strategy formula applied in commercial brand wars

Human Killer Robots reveal::

We were once asked by a Director of the worlds leading video games publisher, "how can we improve the way we work and leverage our international brand?". A single, simple answer was forthcoming "you need to think smarter, in order to be better". After the usual gasps and bluster about how they were the biggest, so they must be the smartest etc, he replied "well how can we become even smarter?". A single, simple answer was forthcoming, "you need to look at how companies you really admire operate and are a close match to your company philosophy and your own vision of the future and harvest their knowhow, like your life depends on it.

Why spend years building your own corporate cognitive memory on the hoof when the answers are already out there? There are a billion ways of developing intelligence, the majority of them legal. So this particular games publisher was effectively told to go forth and think and do like Microsoft, which at that particular time was simple, cheap and relevant advice for them.

Paul Strassman a director with the US Department of Defense and second world war Guerilla war hero once revealed an intelligence formula used in the Gulf war which has provided the basis for more than one multi-million dollar brand success over the last 10 years. Although we slightly adapted it, it went something like this:

Rapid and tactical deployment of small technology increments, which are highly adaptable and which fit into an over-arching, all encompassing architecture.

If you want to be the best, you need to think better than the best. Why not try and think up your own brand positioning formula!

For more on Paul Strassmann: http://www.strassmann.com