Relying on only the creative side of marketing makes you reliant on simple style repetition and further contradictions down the line. The impact of new technology enables brands to better appeal to their target market. The benefits of using neuromarketing are huge but it must be used for the greater good, airing on the side of ethical consideration. 

Photo from Pixels

John Hogan (neuroscientist) in a recent talk at Bournemouth University spoke of how this new type of marketing can make an impact on your target market. John stated that as a neuroscientist he is involved in a lot of collaborating with multidisciplinary corporate-academic teams and how this can be a challenge bring everyone together, on to the same page. Nevertheless, the results can be highly rewarding as described by his work with the Theatre. 

In a campaign to get more young people to attend the theatre, the traditional attempts of just stating some random person said it was “brilliant” or “5 stars, a must-watch” wasn’t good enough. John and his team set about working how to show the physiological responses that people got when watching live theatre. The biomarker that was used was heart rate (a type of Fitbit monitor was used). They gathered real-life data from the public watching Bodyguard at The Savoy Theatre. The results showed that the heart rate of audience members was equivalent to a 30-minute cardio exercise, he showed that the performance of a live show created extreme heart rates when compared to individuals watching the movie. His client got huge mileage for this study, with newspapers and social media picking it up across the globe. 

1

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Identify a question that is both business-relevant and testable

• relates to the client’s needs but is also based in the real world

2

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Review the existing literature as a team and refine the question

• Provides low-cost context for team
• Use to refine and revise the question
• Highlight potential biomarkers

3

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Target biomarker that is relevant, available and cost-effective

• MRI/Hormones/Heart rate)

4

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Gather the evidence needed to meet the business objective

• Neuroscience as marketing (seductive imagery, demonstration)
• Neuroscience for marketing (insight for product strategy)

5

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Promotes the results to the relevant audience

• Have a communication plan (PR )
• Open acidemia communications

 

Katie Hart a leading Neuromarketer demonstrated how the traditional market research can be vastly different from the neurological results. While participants may say in the survey that they liked the campaign that had a black background because it was the most memorable, Nevertheless when looking at the EEG results it caused the most stress/anxiety and low levels of engagement. Therefore, showing the importance of actually understanding what is happening inside the heads of your target audience and/or your potential market. An additional finding was that by putting a group photo with an individual from all diverse cultures can actually engage your audience a lot less than an image of an individual person. There is so much potential and opportunity for businesses to utilise this new type of technology. 

These types of Incite Projects, a look into the minds of your customers have been effective in convincing people to dive a business forward with engagement and sales. 

 

One take away from this type of marketing is that while it is a very new form it is becoming increasingly popular with many industries, it could be that your competitor is utilising this to get ahead of the crowd. It is also important to state what this technology can and can’t do with clear and informed consent from your participants/customers. 

 

“to make something look this effortless actually requires a lot of effort”