Building a strong brand with neuromarketing

"Neuromarketing? So you learn how to manipulate people, then?" That's sometimes the first reaction when I mention that I spent the past year studying neuromarketing. And of course, there is an ethical side to it: is it really OK to use insights into the brain to sell your product? At the same time, isn't that simply what sales is all about at its core? Don't we all do it? 

The short answer: yes. In fact, it's not only people who use influence; it happens constantly in nature. Plants and animals also send signals to their surroundings to influence them. It's a deep-rooted survival strategy. 

Now that I have my diploma in hand, it's a good moment to put what I've learned further into practice, and to share a few insights with you. In this blog, I'll tell you more about how you can use neuromarketing to grow your brand. 

Neuromarketing is not a sales technique

First, the background. Neuromarketing is not a sales technique but a form of research. You don't use insights into the human brain to change people, but to change the way you bring your brand, product or service to market, so that it matches your customers' wishes and needs as closely as possible, whether they're aware of those wishes and needs or not. 

And that last part is important. Because our unconscious brain knows our real wishes far better than our conscious brain. We make 90% of our decisions unconsciously. Our unconscious is the captain of the ship; our consciousness rationalises our decisions afterwards. So if we limit ourselves to surveys and interviews to uncover stakeholders' needs, we're leaving an important area untouched. 

Research into the human brain is carried out in various ways. We have the traditional MRI and the EEG. These show where in the brain, and at what moment, which activity takes place. That gives you direct scientific insight. How does someone respond to a stimulus? Is it a reaction of approach or of withdrawal? Wouldn't you be curious what happens in your customer's brain when they look at your product or logo? Do you see activity in the brain's reward centre? Is there activity in brain areas associated with social connection, such as the mirror neurons? Or do you instead see a response in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which indicates a stress response? 

The principles of neuromarketing

Don't have the budget to carry out neurological research yourself? Existing insights will also get you a long way. Previous research has taught us a lot about influencing strategies. Well known is Cialdini's translation into his 7 principles of influence, which are easy to apply, but other researchers and experts have also developed models and theories that help us understand how and why people make certain decisions and how their behaviour can be influenced. At Partout, we make extensive use of these theories and models, whether it's brand strategy, positioning, proposition, brand experience, message house or the detail level of, for example, CRO.

How does your brand become a strong brand?

If you want to grow, you first need to ask yourself whether your brand's foundation is strong enough to build on. Let us get you started with a number of steps you can take.  

If you want to grow, you first need to ask yourself whether your brand's foundation is strong enough to build on. Let us get you started with a number of steps you can take. 

• Research which needs your brand fulfils at the level of values. Now that we know people don't buy your product for rational reasons in the first place, it's important to understand which emotional needs your brand fulfils. People are drawn to a product or service not only because of its features, but also because of the emotional benefits it offers. It's about creating an emotional bond with your brand by understanding which values your target audience cares about and how your brand responds to them. Values might include: freedom, autonomy, control, security, harmony, efficiency and so on. 

• Invest in unconscious associations. Strong brands sell an experience first, and only then a product or service. Heineken understands this well: they don't sell beer, they sell conviviality. It's important to research which unconscious associations your brand evokes and which you would like it to evoke in your customers. Both questions are interesting, and it's even more interesting to find out whether there's a gap between the two. Closing that gap is the starting point for a strong brand. 

• In your communication, link your brand to emotions and experiences your target audience values positively. As a company, you try to associate your brand with positive emotions and experiences in a way that appeals to underlying values. Whereas rational information is picked up by our rational, conscious brain, emotions are picked up directly by our emotional brain, where they are processed much faster and have far more impact. Just think of the emotional supermarket adverts at Christmas time. Emphasising emotion and experience can be a way to build an emotional bond with your brand and strengthen brand loyalty. It can appeal to consumers on a deeper level and leave a lasting impression. 

• Reinforce the emotional experience with rational arguments. On the other hand, it's also important to provide rational arguments and hard evidence to strengthen the brand's credibility and win consumers' trust. The message house, with its focus on communicating the specific benefits, functions and features of a product or service, can help here by providing factual information that supports the brand's value. By combining these two approaches, a brand can convey a message that covers both emotional and rational aspects. For example, an advertising campaign might start by evoking emotions and creating an emotional connection with the audience, followed by concrete information and evidence to back up the product's benefits. 

• Consistent and repeated exposure. For your brand to succeed, consistent and repeated exposure to it is essential. Make sure all your communications are in line with the values you want to convey. Colour and brand recognition play an important role in this. 

Curious? Would you like to know more about this, or talk with us about what we can do to strengthen the foundations of your brand? Then do get in touch.