Out of the Box

The New “Optics” in Marketing

By Menachem Lubinsky on March 22 2010

Ever so often a new term emerges in marketing that becomes an operative concept in the field. There was a time when “spin” dominated the marketing profession, although it was often thought of in a derogatory way. Putting a spin on something was not necessarily thought of positively. Spin was looked at my many as a defensive measure and not as a positive marketing concept.

Now “optics” is the new boy on the marketing block. It is being used to describe the appearance for something. Talmudic students should have no difficulty in recognizing the new term. The chazal teach us that appearance can be every bit as problematic as the real thing. We are not permitted to drink almond milk in the same setting as meat because of “maaris ayin,” which essentially is optics, or the way that it would appear to the naked eye. Since almond milk looks every bit like cow’s milk, the casual observer would deduce that the person consuming the milk was mixing milk and meat.

So is optics like spin? No. There is a basic difference between spin and optics and I am almost certain that it is being discussed in marketing and public relations classes throughout the country. If Toyota wanted to spin what happened with their presumed stuck gas pedals, they could concoct a story like the mats need to fit snugly under the pedal or they could affect the pedals. Every part of the strategy now focuses on the mats, with expert testimony, studies, testimonials, letters from the president, and even expensive media advertising. I am sure that the media would routinely refer to this as the “company’s spin” on events.

Spin is used by politicians as a way of explaining an unpopular position or even personal behavior. The concept of Optics was recently covered in an essay by Ben Zimmer (March 4th) in the New York Times Magazine. Here are the examples he used: “When President Obama responded to the failed airliner bombing while on vacation in his native state of Hawaii, some Republicans claimed it was “bad optics.” “Hawaii to many Americans seems like a foreign place,” the Republican strategist Kevin Madden told CNN. “And I think those images, the optics, hurt President Obama very badly.” A month later, the shoe was on the other foot when the Republican National Committee held its winter meeting in, yes, Hawaii. Then it was the party’s chairman, Michael Steele, who had to answer questions about the “optics” of gathering the party faithful at a beachfront resort in Waikiki.”

Optics can be the new spin, which essentially says that “it doesn’t matter what we say; it’s how it will look.” Thus, for professionals managing a crisis, the imperative would be “optics” and not spin. But marketers say that optics can also be part of a strategic plan from the outset. They say that it need not be a remedy like spin. It can be a well conceived plan to market or publicize something that will be viewed a certain way by the public. In fact, how it will be viewed is the most important element. Back to Toyota, instead of blaming anyone like the stuck pedals, the company announces a new master safety program that will not only prevent the repeat of the stuck pedals but will be a revolutionary new safety program. Imagine a built-in computer program that warns drivers when any part of the system is not working properly. Great optics since it shows that Toyota does care about the safety of its customers.

A social service organization that served thousands of disadvantaged clients was having difficulty raising funds to pay for expenses not covered by government grants. Somehow the agency was not getting its message across that it was indeed serving some of the most disadvantaged clients, helping many poor and indigent and that it needed the extra money to cover amenities that government did not pay for. As plans were made to hold an auction as part of a fundraiser, the public relations consultant was looking for the optics that would tug the hearts and hopefully the purse strings of the donors. The decision was made to post many photos of clients being served around the room and to have at least two of the clients join the auctioneer.

The concept of optics is still very much in its infancy although marketers were always conscious about perception. The difference is that instead of being integrated into a general marketing concept or even in spin, now there is a term that focuses on how it appears to the eyes of the customer, client or the public.

If this is all somewhat confusing, think of optics this way. Marketers are at long last thinking about how you see things and not how they would like you to see things.

Out of the Box is a collection of strategic marketing articles that Lubicom has published on various topics, trends and ideas in the marketing world. The articles have been published in the Hamodia weekly newspaper circulated on three continents to a readership of well over 100,000.

The name, "Out of the Box" is a term used frequently in business nowadays to describe creative thinking that is not the norm. It is meant to help a business pull away from the pack or separate oneself from the competition. It is to some extent fraught with risk, simply because it is not the run of the mill thinking, but it is at the same time the key to reaching the next opportunity.