The Persuasion Industries

This book presents a history of the UK’s persuasion industries (marketing, advertising, public relations, and branding) between 1969 and 1997. It examines developments in practice, methodology, and application to provide empirical support for the proposition that persuasion played a key role in the making of modern Britain. This period was one of significant change. Persuasion, in a variety of forms, increased in importance and effectiveness to become the driving force within many commercial enterprises. Through a proliferation of new media channels and applications it was also able to penetrate into more areas of everyday life. The impact of these developments on British society was profound and enduring. Historical sources used to undertake this investigation include trade media, academic journals, reports from professional bodies, manuals and memoirs, and archival materials from some of the key advertising agencies, public relations consultancies, and marketing departments of the period. Moreover, this is the first detailed historical examination of developments within the persuasion industries, and also the first that places emergent concepts such as planning, positioning, corporate branding, emotional attachment, and consumer targeting into a historical context. By studying the differential effects of persuasion, this study seeks to develop a better understanding of both the mechanisms that underlay these various applications and their impact on consumer behaviour.