I am completely fascinated by Martin's ideas. As a "brand" strategist I think what he says is revolutionary, not for what he says, but for the way he understands it.
Two quick points, however: I am not convinced that advertisers do engage in the kind of subliminal advertising he talks about, nor, if they did, that it would work as well as he suggests.
Secondly, our research is beginning to clarify the difference between an emotional link to brands (which we discount) and an emotionally driven need for fulfilling experiences (which we don't discount). Externalized emotional links are reserved for people -- unconditional love is not awarded lightly -- for the rest, people will gladly exchange their "emotional bond" with a brand for a different brand if the experience of the seconds brand is more fulfilling.
We use a similar "peg" system, which we refer to as brand impacts and brand spikes to nail the difference and relevance of our branded into experience into the deepest crevices of the consumer's brain (well, not quite that starkly, but you get the idea).
Martin's book promotion plan, which if analysed will clearly indicate he practices what he preaches, has worked in my case. I will buy the book. Even though there was no subliminal messaging in the podcast (or was there?), and especially not because I am in any way emotionally linked to Martin!
The trick, therefore, is to understand how the brand fits into fulfilling experiences and create a delivery mechanism to ensure the product is always experienced in this context.
