ABSTRACT
Alchemists spent their lives looking for the fabled Philosopher’s Stone which would enable them to turn base metal into gold. In digital technology corporate marketers have found their philosopher’s stone, albeit one which works in reverse: with it they can turn the gold of the human being into the base metal of the consumer.
The necromancy starts once again with snooping. Thanks to digital technology marketers can access information about us in vast quantities – beyond the dreams of the Stasi or Big Brother, let alone the old-fashioned analogue market researcher. With it they can look into us body, mind, and soul and identify not just our daily needs, but our hopes and dreams, our deepest fears, our most secret vulnerabilities. When this is harnessed to big data and artificial intelligence they become like gods – all seeing; all knowing.
This has given their marketing forensic precision. Advertising has become “programmatic”, honed, and targeted in microseconds to suit our preferences exactly. Product design, pricing, and packaging can also be customised to perfection. Meanwhile distribution is simply universal – any time, any place, anywhere.
The corporates have hit the digital jackpot; we have hit rock bottom.
