Watching the movie “the Joneses” was an eye-opener. I enjoyed watching the movie and seeing all the stealth marketing techniques to sell products; it was good. After watching the movie, I Would categorize the Jones family’s lives as personal selling because they exhibited all the traits that would make them personal sellers. They did this by using demonstrations and Conversation in the movie. They started by demonstrating the neighbors, school kids, and Housewives products like makeup, golf clubs, and even cars. And how they did it that was by first conversing with people and starting up relationships to influence others to buy products, Like how demi moor’s character built up a relationship with Billy, her hairdresser, to influence him to buy products for his hair salon later on. And how David Duchovny demonstrated the lawn chair with a tv as he conversated with the guys at a game of golf. The characters that played their children even demonstrated Personal selling clothes, lipsticks, and skateboards using the same tactics demi Moore’s character was doing, but just personal selling through the Teen market.
Demonstration and conversation are similar to the sales tactics of “the Jones family” and my favorite brand marketing tactics. I say this because, in the movie, from the neighbor’s point of view, they see the joneses as a friendly family, even friends they trust. So By the Joneses Striking up these fake meaningful conversations, highlighting the advantageous features of the products while having this influence over these people, the Joneses were able to sell these products to anybody that would listen. And relatability also helps sell because it makes people want to buy a product because of the accuracy and honesty when selling a product, Pretty how the neighbors and friends felt about The joneses’ opinions on the products. For example, the company “La Roch posay” face counter in Ulta. They market their products by having someone who works for the company help Retail sales and conversate. The La Roche posay seller strikes up a conversation with a customer and tells them about all the products, and they ask the customers what their skin problems are and how their products could help them. By just doing that, the retail worker already grasps the customers’ attention with a friendly conversation, talking about their skin problems to make them feel comfortable. During the conversation, to influence the customer more, they tend to point out how the company uses real people by showing their textured skin on their campaigns and websites and the before and after of using the products. They Promote how the company uses regular people to relate to consumers to buy the products. Also, to help consumers buy, they demonstrate how the products work by letting customers try the products in the store. So customers can test it and see how the products are first hand. This simple way of personal selling by conversation and demonstration makes consumers want to buy, which is pretty much the movie’s whole premise.
After reading the course materials and watching the movie, Some may say it wasn’t ethical because they lied to people. But what they were doing in the movie is what people do today. And I believe that the products being marketed in this movie were ethical because the characters in the movie were personally selling while influencing consumers. When the time this movie came out, we rarely had influencers. Now we have millions of personal sellers, aka influencers, on every social media platform demonstrating Digital Marketing, who are social media Joneses today. These new personal sellers are now selling products online, making deals with brands creating buzz engaging in social media. The only difference in the movie is that these characters are going to real towns, meeting real people, striking up conversations, and being influencers to sell products. An excellent example of the characters being influencers is when Demi Moore made all the neighborhood moms get new Walking gear just because Demi walked by them days prior with new gear. By Demi’s character, just saying “hi “and wearing something new influenced others to buy. It’s the same as what many do today to help sell products. So it’s ethical; it’s just that the movie makes these characters personally sell in person. It’s the same but done differently, making it ethical.
Lastly, How would I feel if I were friends with one of the Jones family before I knew the secret, I would be neutral. I would see them as a friend with wealthy parents. I say this because I wouldn’t care about what new things they got. After all, they might have some products I might not like or want. I might be inspired by some of the products they sell. But I’m not going to be full-on trying to get everything they have; it’s just not me. In my eyes, there are just rich kids getting what they want. After finding the secret afterward, I would feel the same. I probably wouldn’t have seen the jones kids as real friends because I wouldn’t like being best friends with someone who constantly shows off their new things all the time; it would give off narcissistic vibes. So I wouldn’t be hurt or surprised.
