Now For The Science Bit

If I asked you when you were last paratelic, you’d probably start racking your brain for the last time you had way too much to drink.
Ho, Ho. An easy joke, I know.
The fact is, the last time you were paratelic was when you felt the wind in your hair, or across your scalp in my case. It could have been the last time you gazed out of a bus window, or lost yourself in a great piece of music.
Paratelic is actually the state of mind in which we find ourselves when we’re truly relaxed and away from the things that occupy our minds – work, family, pressure. The opposite being ‘telic’ which is to be totally focused serious-minded, and keen to avoid disruption.
But you’re not here to brush up on cognitive psychology, so what on earth am I talking about?
Well, I first heard about telic and paratelic states years ago when I first started in experiential marketing. And the subject has become more and more relevant as our discipline has expanded and matured.
Traditional advertising has to tread a careful line between telic and paratelic audiences. If it interrupts people in a paratelic state, it can become an irritant.
Likewise, if they’re in a telic state, they may be more focused, but not necessarily on our message.
But experiential – that’s where the rules change.
We can capture an audience, and change their state. If they’re concentrating on one thing, we can take them away and help them to forget the pressures they face. Or if they’re wandering freely, we can build an experience that will focus their mind and change their behaviours.
Powerful stuff.
And a world of opportunities.
We just need to think about our audience, and their state of mind.

Have a very paratelic weekend