Better Branding through Science.

Want to hook more clients? Sell more product? Then consider the chemistry of the brain... In the budding field of Neuromarketing, scientists rely on Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging or fMRI to track which regions of the brain light up when people recognize a face, hear a song, make a decision, pay attention or sense deception. The results have powerful implications for marketing. For example, in a recent fMRI study by Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, 67 people were asked to do blind taste tests of Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Participants were split virtually 50/50 over which soft drink tasted better. But when the same people were tested again and told which brand of soft drink they were drinking, 75% said they preferred Coca-Cola. The Pepsi Challenge Why did the test subjects change their opinion? Why would they be split 50/50 in blind taste tests, but prefer Coca-Cola three to one in the non-blind test? Because two different parts of the brain control taste preference and brand preference. During blind taste tests, something called the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex lights up, which helps drive sensory preferences such as taste. But when consumers know which brand they’re drinking, the medial prefrontal cortex lights up, which helps drive brand preference. In other words, because of Coke's brand image, about 75% of the population think they prefer Coke over Pepsi even though blind taste tests show that only about 50% do. Emotion vs Reason Traditional forms of research have already shown that the more emotionally charged a commercial is, the more likely the message is to be embedded in a consumer's mind. That's because in order for a long-term memory to be created, it must first have an emotional component to it. For example, ask almost any consumer what image they most strongly recall when they think of Taco Bell, and almost all of them will immediately think of the Taco Bell Chihuahua, even though those ads haven't been run for quite a while. Strong visuals are obviously important as triggers for an emotional response. Add powerful copy writing, and you have a winner. Good copywriting reaches into the mind of your prospect and enhances and strengthens the initial impression, doubling, even tripling, its impact. Implications for marketers. 1. Marketing messages that touch an emotional hot spot are often highly effective. 2. Marketing messages that provide information in a straightforward or mundane fashion are often ineffective. 3. Marketers who find an emotional hot button can use that information to drive sales and change consumer behavior.