Hello, friends!
You are on the Brzhechko&Nobody channel, where everything is about pharmaceutical advertising.
This is the seventh video of my author’s course “Shoot It Right”, and today you will learn about the most important psychodynamic process that directly drives sales. By mastering its proper use, you will significantly increase the effectiveness of your advertising.
Like this video, subscribe, turn on notifications, join our Facebook community via the link in the description, and visit my website. Because only here will you learn things about advertising that you’ve never heard before!
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Let’s Recall Projection
In the previous video, which I strongly recommend you watch, we thoroughly analyzed what projection is.
Here are the key takeaways from that video:
- Projection is the process where the viewer’s internal archetypes are projected onto the archetypes embodied in the advertisement.
- A viewer who is currently sick, with their healthy archetypes suppressed in the shadow, must recognize themselves in the hero of the ad, who represents the shadow side of the same archetype.
- Similarly, the Healer (who might be a loved one of the patient or even an internal part of the patient’s psyche responsible for healing) must project their energy onto the corresponding character in the ad.
- For projection to happen (in other words, for the viewer to recognize themselves in the ad), the frame must remain clean.
- Anything that distracts from establishing this psychological connection is excessive and must be eliminated from the advertisement.
- Your ad will always have only two types of viewers:
- A viewer without the problem, who doesn’t need your product at all (their opinion is irrelevant to us).
- A viewer with the problem (or someone who takes care of a person with this problem) — this is your potential buyer, whom you must satisfy by answering just three key questions that concern them.
For more details, check the previous video, but now let’s move forward.
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Transference – The sales driver
Now that we have successfully set up projection, we can use transference to initiate action:
- For the patient → Establishing trust in the Healer
- For the Healer → Motivating the purchase of the product
In the ad, the Patient archetype must transfer a state of trust to the real patient watching the commercial. This means that the actor playing the patient must visibly trust the Healer.
At the same time, the Healer archetype must be worthy of trust. If the advertising archetyping was done correctly, this will happen naturally. However, one important factor must be considered: The Rank of the Healer’s Archetype
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Healer’s rank
Let’s examine an advertisement that resulted in a decline in sales. Among several serious mistakes, the advertisers mishandled the Healer’s rank.
Who brings the medicine to the patient?
- A young, fragile waitress.
What female archetype does she represent?
- Not the Mother, not the Amazon, not Hera, not the Medium.
- In the hierarchy of a restaurant, a waitress resembling a trainee does not hold a high status.
She lacks authority, does not inspire trust, and cannot carry the energy of healing — which means transference fails and sales suffer.
An even worse mistake is choosing children or animals to play the role of the Healer.
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The Exception to the Rule
There is one exception — when the Healer archetype takes the form of the Divine Child.
In mythology, this archetype appears as:
- Magical creatures
- Guides
- Advisors
- Givers of enchanted objects that fulfill wishes
For example, this approach has been effectively used in advertisements for Strepsils and Lemsip.
However, this strategy requires strict execution. If you decide to use it, the Divine Child must be:
Integrated into the brand’s identity (e.g., featured on packaging or consistently used across campaigns).
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Patient Shouldn’t See into the Camera
- Projection is crucial for the patient. They must recognize themselves in the ad.
- Transference is critical for the Healer. They must be inspired to take action.
The golden rule of filming pharmaceutical ads:
- The Patient must never look directly into the camera.
- If they do, it breaks projection, shifting transference onto the viewer, which destroys the ad’s effectiveness.
- The Healer, on the other hand, should almost always look into the camera — especially when recommending the product.
Only after recovery can the Patient look into the camera, transferring positive experience and trust to the audience.
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Final Thoughts & What’s Next?
You are probably wondering how this directly affects the creation of pharmaceutical advertisements. We have already examined several practical approaches based on the theory of advertising psychodynamics. However, we are currently focused on studying theoretical concepts, the practical implementation of which we will explore in more detail in the following sections of my course.
Today, you learned the importance of the two fundamental psychodynamic processes that shape pharmaceutical advertising: projection and transference.
In the next video, we will explore:
- The Archetype of Medicine
- The Role of Alchemy in Advertising Psychodynamics
- Karpman’s Drama Triangle in pharmaceutical advertising
Like this video, subscribe, turn on notifications, join our Facebook community via the link in the description, and visit my website. Because only here will you learn things about advertising that you’ve never heard before!
