Hello, friends!
Today, you will learn about two key processes that occur during the effective interaction of advertising with its viewer — projection and transference. These are complex psychodynamic processes, understanding which is one of the most important things for an advertiser who wants to learn how to create effective advertising and understand how it works.
We will also finally put an end to the discussion about whether it is worth listening to people who evaluate your advertising and whether it is necessary to show advertising to different people before testing or broadcasting it in the media.
You are on the Brzhechko&Nobody channel, where is all about pharmaceutical advertising. My name is Yevhenii Brzhechko — an experienced marketer and advertiser in the field of pharmaceutical marketing from Ukraine.
Like this video, subscribe, turn on notifications, join our Facebook community, and don’t forget to visit my website. Here, you will find insights about advertising that you won’t hear anywhere else!
The Advertiser’s Enemy
In the previous video, which I strongly recommend watching, I provided a concise overview of the basics of advertising psychodynamics.
Today, we will talk about one of the biggest mistakes in the advertising preparation process and why I am categorically against testing ads on friends, colleagues, and focus groups.
Gustav Jung once said: “Most people do not think—they judge.” And listening judgments of others is a key problem for many advertisers.
Advertising is a complex science but that is not taught in schools. That is why most people do not consider advertising something they might not understand. Instead, almost everyone believes they can assess its effectiveness just by watching a commercial and sharing their opinion about it, as if it were a movie.
That’s why you’ll find countless comments under any ad video with various judgments. And only the advertiser who knows the main putpose of advertising also knows the real value of these comments.
A professional advertiser cares only about whether their ad generates sales. So how do you learn to create such advertising and evaluate its potential even before spending money on production and broadcasting?
Subscribe to this channel, and you’ll be among those who know the answer to this question.
All these commentators are *experts* only until they themselves become a viewer with a real problem. That’s when all the popcorn-fueled critiques end, and the real magic of advertising begins.
Two Types of Viewers
Your ad will be watched by only two types of viewers:
1. The Viewer Without a Problem
This person does not need the product. If you ask them what they think about the ad, they will analyze the storyline, wall colors, acting… but none of this has any direct significance for the actual effectiveness of the ad.
Why? Because even if this viewer likes your ad, they will not buy your product—not even for free. People do not buy medicine out of sheer desire — it’s not fashion, a car, or perfume. In other words, pharmaceutical advertising promotes products with low purchase motivation.
Simply put, you won’t see people posting selfies with a pack of pills on social media: “Hey, I’m sick, and I have heartburn!” (except for those seeking sympathy, which doesn’t help your sales).
What is this person thinking about?
Anything but what actually matters to us — not about making a purchase!
Conclusion: It absolutely does not matter what a person without heartburn thinks about your antacid ad!
2. The Viewer With a Problem
This is crucial! This person either has the problem themselves or takes care of someone who does. When they watch your ad, they care about only three questions:
- Is this product suitable for me?
- Is it effective and better than other options?
- Is it safe, accessible, and easy to use?
That’s it. This is all that matters to someone who has the potential to actually buy your product.
This person won’t evaluate the wall color, the plot, or the acting. The only thing they will do is decide whether the product meets these three criteria. And they won’t express this with a like or a comment under your video — they will express it with their money.
We will discuss later what wall colors, storylines, acting, voice-over, and other elements will make your ad more convincing.
For now, your key task as an advertiser is to provide clear and persuasive answers to these three questions — and not get distracted by anything else!
Your goal is to satisfy the viewer with a problem and ignore the opinions of those without a problem. Believe me, when they eventually need your product, they will forget about the ugly wall color and the “dumb” storyline — all they will care about is whether your product helps them.
How to Make your answer to this question More Convincing?
Projection in Advertising
Let’s say we are at the stage where we have completed advertising archetyping. All our characters embody the right archetypes. Now, our task is to activate the corresponding archetypes in the viewer’s mind without overshadowing them with unnecessary creative distractions.
Sigmund Freud discovered the phenomenon of psychological projection: in therapy, patients project onto the therapist the image of a father, mother, or another significant person. Initially, Freud saw this as an obstacle, but later he realized it could actually benefit therapy through transference.
Imagine Freud arriving at a therapy session dressed as a musketeer, with a circle dance happening around him, while outside, children played football and occasionally shattered the window with the ball. Imagine how effective that therapy would be. How could projection or transference even occur in such conditions? How could archetypes act in such environment?
How Does This Matter in Advertising?
We must create an ad where the characters precisely and without distraction embody the archetypes we selected during the advertising archetyping phase. The psychological archetypes within the viewer should recognize themselves in the archetypes presented in the ad.
For example:
– The Tyrant (Shadow King) should clearly see himself in the Sick Character of the ad.
– The wife or mother of the sick person should recognize herself in the character embodying the Mother archetype.
Clarity of projection is crucial.
Any distractions in the ad — unnecessary creative elements, flashy visuals, or anything that blurs the archetypal model we’ve onece created — must be removed.
And this is the most important conclusion: clarity in framing is not just a stylistic choice — it is essential according to advertising psychodynamics.
Transference: The Next Stage of Influence
If projection is the moment when the viewer’s internal archetypes recognize themselves in the ad’s archetypes, then transference is the process in which they begin to act accordingly.
This process is extremely important for the Healer archetype.
Notably, the Healer can be either:
1. A loved one who takes care of sick person, or
2. A part of sick person’s psyche that pushes them to take action.
In both cases, our Healer character in the ad must transfer onto the viewer’s Healer archetype.
However, transference is a complex mechanism, and I suggest we leave this discussion for our next session.
Summary
– In pharmaceutical advertising, no one buys your product just because the ad is “beautiful” and “well-liked.”
– Your only goal as an advertiser is to answer three key questions for the viewer with a problem.
– Projection only works when the ad’s characters purely embody archetypes — anything that distracts from this weakens the impact.
Next time, we’ll dive into how transference completes the advertising influence process.
Like this video, subscribe, turn on notifications, join our Facebook community, and visit my website! Here, you will learn things about advertising that you have never heard before!
