• Brand Republic, Tuesday, July 7, 2009 10:29 AM

Alan Mitchell launches a new column today with an eye-catching acronym, Mad Sheep Rage, that is meant to assist marketers with their marketing and, as The New Yorker might point out, is further evidence of why there will always be an England. First, though, Mitchell begins with a different metaphor, suggesting that there is something to be learned from the evolving treatment of leukemia. Bottom line: leukemia is actually 51 different types of cancer so the first step is to properly diagnose which one you're dealing with.

Now back to Mad Sheep Rage, which lists the many different ways in which marketing and advertising can affect target audiences. M stands for manipulation. A stands for awareness. D stands for deception. S stands for stimulation. H stands for heuristics. You get the picture. Well, you probably did until that last one.

Heuristics, you may recall, are experience-based techniques that help in problem solving, learning and discovery. Or, if you don't recall, you can check Wikipedia, as I did for more. Anyway, Mitchell suggests that heuristics include such concepts as "buy the cheapest (money-saving), ... buy the most expensive (status, quality), buy what my friends recommend or have bought (risk-reduction, fashion), ... buy what is easiest to buy (convenience) and so on." We're only half-way through the acronym, but we've run out of space, so you might want to check the article for the three lessons to be learned from the exercise .

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