THINK ABOUT IT
The Landmark Forum
Marketing Techniques
Two important processes are used in order to turn everyday people into obedient
voluntary salesmen.
a. Group pressure
A large group of selected peers (Landmark selects after examination the people who will
attend) is formed. They are placed closely together. This produces intimacy. It allows
every participant instantly feel like part of a selected group of special people. This
establishes the Forum as a positive and meaningful experience for everyone. The group is
encouraged by carefully planted Landmark people inside the group. They trigger applause
from the unsuspecting attendants. This establishes the supportive nature of the group. The
attendants will leave the Forum with the feeling they are select and loved by others,
therefore important.
b. Wordplay, slogans and jargon
Excellent use of the three above mentioned elements enhances the effect of the Forum
over people. Wordplay is used to confuse people. An old use of confrontation, the way
Socrates used to tease his students, is used to daze participants and tenderize their
critical part of the mind. For example, a possible confrontation:
- "What are you doing in life?"
- "Work"
- "Why?"
- "In order to make money"
- "Why is that?"
- "So I could buy myself things"
- "Like what?"
- "Jewelry, a fancy car, travel places"
- "What will that get you?"
- "Happiness"
- "Why can’t you be happy now?" (confusion, possible applauds)
Slogans are used to establish the positive nature of the experience. For example "If you don’t want others to judge you, stop judging others", "Take charge of your life, instead of life taking charge of you", "Stop living in your past", "Leave up to your dreams", "Words are meaningless" (hidden contradiction - the use of words, like in this sentence, is essential to the Forum). Theses slogans are heavily borrowed from just about anywhere and are nice themselves, but become extremely fruitful when used with... Carefully selected jargon. Words like "Paradigm", "Breakthroughs", "Making a difference" etc. Why do I say "carefully selected"? Because the phrase "paradigm shift" could have been replaced by "breaking the limits", "border expanding". But no, since the Forum is aimed especially toward the White Collar, words like "paradigm" makes the average participant feel really at home. Use of Forum jargon further enhances the group, as it uplifts it above the rest of society. A secret language, or code, is formed, enigmatic to the outer world. If you want to understand how "to make a difference", you must attend the Forum. The overall effect is that nobody really knows, or can specifically describe what’s going on in the Forum. All that’s left is the wordplay, slogans and the jargon. They cover a rather vacuous philosophy. They sell well, though, and do not leave unpleasant suspicions about their hidden nature.