Marketing strategy and the Psi community

Marketing strategies generate effects that are disproportionate to the overall work efforts of institutions, corporations and personal brands.  Knowing this - paying attention to branding is must for success.  I am somewhat curious why I don't read more emotion about the current status of the brand image and memes of Psi.

Is it a little taboo here on Psiencequest, because it is so important?  I think we should be killing aging moss-covered giants, rather than "feeling threatened".  I feel more "Jack" than victim and hope to encourage others.

In post #2, there is a link to The Templeton website.  It is highly professional and commands respect   It is more a  vehicle more for Spirituality than ESP.  In our forum there are deeply embedded observers.  Many someone will point to Psi websites that will grab attention or project confidence for review.  The science route will move the ball, more than spirit in my humble opinion.  While a positive attitude about inner meanings is very important and should never be dismissed - the work at hand is projecting core ideas aimed at wide acceptance.

While weird science is fun - Psi needs newly researched topics backed by methods and targeted at fundamental understandings.

It depends on the place and the research I feel. Of course things like NDEs and mediumship ect are going to come from a spiritual approach, but a lot of other topics are very just impartial and focused on the ESP side of things. I think there's a lot of good marketing for parapsychology that goes on that we just don't hear about, especially in non US countries. 

I've been following a parapsychologist, Dr Callum E Cooper, who's based out of the university of Northampton in Britain. He does newspaper articles, radio interviews, daytime talk show interviews, podcasts, lecturs. The university he's at has a big push on science communication with a VERY good PR team that manages it and so he gets really out there talking about ESP, hauntings ect. And he's a fair judge and adament in his work, he doesn't say something like postmortem survival exists, he says there's evidence for postmortem survival that needs evaluation. He doesn't think we need more studies to prove PSI exists, we've got the stats even in the last 20 years, he thinks we need more qualitive research and have to make further strides forward.

But I wouldnt know about any of that if I didn't find out about him, because it's local. If that goes on in non Western countries too than how are we meant to know what's happening. An important part too is with Dr Cooper he has a PR department supporting him, they filter out gotcha attempts with genuine interest and if someone gives him an unfair take they're blacklisted from ever getting an interview from him again. Yknow, like, parapsychologists are scientists not media wizzes, unless other people get that kinda setup it's a rough ride.

How might things improve though? Man I dunno. I think parapsychology is still unpopular, but the actual ability to resist it in an academic setting nowdays is much harder to do. Cardena's meta analysis came out and the skeptical responses were few and abyssmal, coming from ignorance than any serious reading on the topic. People can say parapsychology is trash, but they son't have the evidence to back it up. That's already a sign of improvement in the work being done, even Bem's studied wasn't as good as that. The more that continues the better things will get overall. From a pure PR side, for something like NDEs dropping the religious connotations would be good. I'm not anti religion but I am an atheist, so when I see a NDE video or book that's talking about some Christian God it's like eeeehhhh. Just coming from a general perspective would be good. More BETTER mediumship would be good because fuck me that Surviving Death section was a plane, all hands lost, crash. Though it might just be hard because the best mediums probably aren't up for being interviewed and stuff, I don't think they'd put the verified mediums used for research in front of a camera. For other stuff, the BIGGEST thing parapsychologists could do is probably get the the PSI Encyclopedia out there. That's what Dr Cooper said in some of his podcasts, the only exposure people get to PSI is Wikipedia, which is awful. He has to re educate anyone who comes to his class. People simply don't know that proper research goes on, showing that it does and it's legitimate is the most important step. How we can help with that? I dunno.

From a pure PR side, for something like NDEs dropping the religious connotations would be good. I'm not anti religion but I am an atheist, so when I see a NDE video or book that's talking about some Christian God it's like eeeehhhh. Just coming from a general perspective would be good.

I suspect that a lot of that Christian emphasis is aimed towards the American market, where the foothold of religion seems to permeate much of the establishment and the ordinary people.

Here in Europe, we have religions and a Christian heritage too. But current trends in terms of what makes a good title for a book or what sort of emphasis to give is much more secular.

Books by people such as Rupert Sheldrake and Sam Parnia are given different titles and different marketing in the U.S. than in Britain for example.

As an aside I recall going on a visit to tourist sites in England with a group of American work colleagues. At least one of them was shocked or horrified by some of the 'pagan' sites we visited, which would have been a much more unusual reaction among a group of British associates.

I've been following a parapsychologist, Dr Callum E Cooper, who's based out of the university of Northampton in Britain. He does newspaper articles, radio interviews, daytime talk show interviews, podcasts, lecturs. The university he's at has a big push on science communication with a VERY good PR team that manages it and so he gets really out there talking about ESP, hauntings ect. And he's a fair judge and adament in his work, he doesn't say something like postmortem survival exists, he says there's evidence for postmortem survival that needs evaluation. He doesn't think we need more studies to prove PSI exists, we've got the stats even in the last 20 years, he thinks we need more qualitive research and have to make further strides forward.

Thanks for highlighting this chap, I’d no real idea which Universities or other higher education facilities were the ones to look out for, Edinburgh Uni being the only one I thought might be more open minded. Then again, there’s ‘parapsychologist’ Richard Wiseman and his wife Caroline Watt who I think is still at Edinburgh that I don’t really think much of. Wiseman mainly because of his dealings with Rupert Sheldrake, a man I see as having strong integrity, Watt because of listening to her talk about NDEs and other things, as well as being married to someone I don’t think has much integrity. 

My daughter chose Birmingham to study Psychology at without having any real idea about what she ought to be looking for. I’m not saying I had much idea of the specifics, but I think I had a good idea of what might have been some general things to look for. She has a definite interest in astrology, but is aware that it is looked upon with jaundiced eyes by at least some of her department lecturers. This is what pisses me off, surely people like my daughter ought to be unafraid to talk about things she has an interest in, but she faces light ridicule from her male friends and who knows what type of reaction if she spoke openly in the ‘hallowed halls’ of the Uni. 

Some aspects of Uni’s are in fact far from what they’re meant to be imo. I see many aspects of a University education as being quite negative in fact. They’re something wrong with youngsters being in any way afraid to express themselves about anything that isn’t obviously criminal or evil (and even then, some doubtful things are criminal and evil can be subjective).

Thanks for highlighting this chap, I’d no real idea which Universities or other higher education facilities were the ones to look out for, Edinburgh Uni being the only one I thought might be more open minded. Then again, there’s ‘parapsychologist’ Richard Wiseman and his wife Caroline Watt who I think is still at Edinburgh that I don’t really think much of. Wiseman mainly because of his dealings with Rupert Sheldrake, a man I see as having strong integrity, Watt because of listening to her talk about NDEs and other things, as well as being married to someone I don’t think has much integrity. 

My daughter chose Birmingham to study Psychology at without having any real idea about what she ought to be looking for. I’m not saying I had much idea of the specifics, but I think I had a good idea of what might have been some general things to look for. She has a definite interest in astrology, but is aware that it is looked upon with jaundiced eyes by at least some of her department lecturers. This is what pisses me off, surely people like my daughter ought to be unafraid to talk about things she has an interest in, but she faces light ridicule from her male friends and who knows what type of reaction if she spoke openly in the ‘hallowed halls’ of the Uni. 

Some aspects of Uni’s are in fact far from what they’re meant to be imo. I see many aspects of a University education as being quite negative in fact. They’re something wrong with youngsters being in any way afraid to express themselves about anything that isn’t obviously criminal or evil (and even then, some doubtful things are criminal and evil can be subjective).

The University of Northampton is a centre which has only recently appeared on my radar too. (though it has been active for much longer).

I hadn't noticed Dr Callum E Cooper previously, he is someone I'll have to check out. I had noted Professor Chris Roe - likewise of the same University of Northampton. There is certainly research going on there, which may be more fruitful than the Watt-Wiseman stable which seems to have a rather blinkered view of these topics. (U.S. readers - blinkers == blinders).

My own time at university I was in a science/engineering area of study, which was unexciting. I gained much more benefit from my fellow-students during non-study time, when I was exposed to a wide range of topics including Albert Camus as well as Lyall Watson and much more. Camus led me down a dark path, perhaps something one has to go through in order to emerge into the light at the end. Lyall Watson remains one of my favourite authors, his book Gifts of Unknown Things being quite special for me. Overall, my time at university is something I treasure, not for the academic side, but because it had a transformative effect on me, and included some of the happiest times too. But times have changed, there may be restrictions on free speech these days which were undreamed of except in foreign lands, in my time.

My own time at university I was in a science/engineering area of study, which was unexciting. I gained much more benefit from my fellow-students during non-study time, when I was exposed to a wide range of topics including Albert Camus as well as Lyall Watson and much more. Camus led me down a dark path, perhaps something one has to go through in order to emerge into the light at the end. Lyall Watson remains one of my favourite authors, his book Gifts of Unknown Things being quite special for me. Overall, my time at university is something I treasure, not for the academic side, but because it had a transformative effect on me, and included some of the happiest times too. But times have changed, there may be restrictions on free speech these days which were undreamed of except in foreign lands, in my time.

Interesting.

I think studying a topic that is more objective like mathematics or engineering is a way to gain most knowledge without human subjectivity being too influential, but I’m sure it still influences aspects of them. What are the benefit/drawback balance for those paying through the nose for a University education during the past year? 

The past year apart, it will be interesting to see how my daughter eventually looks back on her ‘education’ as a whole. From my perspective, and I’ve heard the same from others, the love of school and learning disappeared from her when the big exams started looming. The pressure was on to ‘perform well’. it was the mindset at her school. It was/is seen as a good school, I’m not so sure. 

I dropped out of an engineering course at Uni to go flying, as so many of my fellow pilots (at least in South Africa) did. Unusually, my time at Uni was about the hardest that I’ve endured in my life. I was lost, having been told that I could no longer pursue my lifelong dream and in the final few months, very lonely. I missed my parents and the life in Africa. I had never even considered the possibility of doing anything else but flying, from the time we first flew to Zambia. 

My wife’s time at Uni was ‘the best’! She has great memories of many happy times, I would say that like you, they are around social events and experiences. That’s why she has encouraged our daughter to go. And I’m not really in disagreement, but I do think the time that having a bit of paper on the wall to prove your value is coming to a close. 

How do others see their time at Uni? It might be interesting to start a thread to find out?

It depends on the place and the research I feel. Of course things like NDEs and mediumship ect are going to come from a spiritual approach, but a lot of other topics are very just impartial and focused on the ESP side of things. I think there's a lot of good marketing for parapsychology that goes on that we just don't hear about, especially in non US countries. 

I've been following a parapsychologist, Dr Callum E Cooper, who's based out of the university of Northampton in Britain. . People simply don't know that proper research goes on, showing that it does and it's legitimate is the most important step. How we can help with that? I dunno.

Thanks for presenting Callum Cooper's work.  I was unaware of his efforts and appreciate the level of professionalism on his website.

I strongly agree that legitimacy is a crucial threshold that needs to be crossed.  Focused research by highly qualified folks is the long-term path.  But having a community, like this one, where new events and efforts are parsed does make a difference.  In terms of marketing, positive narratives and interpretations emerge.  It is these grass-roots narratives than can blow-up into influential memes.  It is where the next trailblazers will be found.

On the pragmatic side, if we in the general public don't "hear" about marketing efforts - then those marketing efforts are not doing their jobs - yet.

I suggest the forum keeps an eye on those topics and authors that can be promoted.  Again, in the pragmatic view, its not the local and personal opinions that substantiate.  It's the one that can be widely distributed.

I really like Daryl Bem's work.  I think he is an explorer and discoverer - more than being a straight-line researcher.  On the other hand, his work's image is not marketplace ready.

On the pragmatic side, if we in the general public don't "hear" about marketing efforts - then those marketing efforts are not doing their jobs - yet.

Well his stuff is more community; hence what I mean when I said there's a lot of stuff we probably don't hear about. If they're doing radio shows in Britain or doing a tour in Brazil it's going to be making strides in those areas, but not here in bloody, rural Australia. 

I only really found out about him from the encyclopedia which isnt super out there as is.

Very interesting, but to paraphrase Dr. Venkman: pretend for a moment that I don't know anything about kinematics, Nima Arkani-Hamed, or physics, and just tell me what this has to do with marketing.


(Didn't mean that to be so snarky; I'm honestly confused and curious how this ties into the topic. Are you saying this rules out psi phenomena and therefore the need to market them better?)

I was just responding to a sentence towards end of the opening quote... about once we have a “how it works”.

Pointing out it’s already here, IMO... everything can fall out of what this ‘thing’ of Nina et al is described like... which is what crushed me. I suppose I’m saying there’s no need to market anything... it was always here... but it can only be found by searching for it... you can’t be shown it.

I think part of what is necessary is making the paranormal both a useful and entertaining experience to seek out, though not necessarily at the same time.

For example while I did get what me and my friends consider a good "hit" for psychometry by attending a meeting for a sensitive the evening was interesting regardless. It's a rare experience where people from all walks of life will openly talk about death and its impact on them.

But it doesn't need to be that deep, haunted locations seem to attract many people to them after all and I assume some of the reported experiences are genuine.

There's also the useful side, where the effort to gain a paranormal experience yields some value even if nothing occurs. For example lucid dreaming can be an interesting skill to learn even if there's no dream-Psi experiences. Meditation and martial arts are also useful or at least can yield health benefits on their own. Spiritual practice can be fulfilling and yield life benefits.

These I think are the ways Psi can be marketed to the public. The ideal is that many people end up having Psi [& Spirit Communication] experiences, and the public grows more supportive as a result. Also some these people then will go into academia, or a public figure of some sort, and also become advocates in that way.

I was just responding to a sentence towards end of the opening quote... about once we have a “how it works”.

Pointing out it’s already here, IMO... everything can fall out of what this ‘thing’ of Nina et al is described like... which is what crushed me. I suppose I’m saying there’s no need to market anything... it was always here... but it can only be found by searching for it... you can’t be shown it.

Granting that, then there's still the challenge of selling/marketing phenomena that many people still deny can fall out of that "thing."