HEADS VS HEARTS
On entering the Ravensbourne/Ogilvy Lab Day lecture theatre, my first observation was the production value of the event. Colourful mood lighting, bold visual aids and surround sound aptly set the scene for a day discussing multi-sensory marketing, and how brands communicate with consumers on an ‘unconscious level’.
To better understand where that unconscious level exists, imagine you are holding a sachet of sugar in front of you. Now imagine how you would open that sachet of sugar. Holding the sachet in one hand, you would tear the top off with the other hand. Right? Well yes, but most people forget that ‘before’ doing that we tend to shake the sachet to ensure the sugar sits at the bottom of the pack, to prevent it spilling out. Brands need to learn how to connect with their audience in this space, before the conscious decision is made.
One example of an unconscious call to action is the Adrian North wine study. Either traditional French or German music was played to customers in a wine shop to see if it affected sales. On days where the French music was played, 77% of wine sales were French wine. On German music days, 73% of wine sold was German. Did people know that the music had such a massive behavioural effect? Only 1 in 44 mentioned it as being the reason they bought the wine. In this case, 86% of people made an unconscious decision influenced by factors completely within the marketeers control.
Just that evening I was having dinner with my beau at The Grosvenor Hotel and I couldn’t help but notice the music playing. It was dreadful. It’s was valentine’s dinner and they were playing an upbeat mish mash of unromantic genres. Probably a compilation from one of the waitresses iPods. Either way, it totally ruined the romantic setting they had tried to create. I will not go back there for dinner, regardless of how enjoyable the food was.
Julian Treasure explained how we interact with brands on a sensory level, not just through sight, but through sound, smell, touch and taste. But 84% of brands spend their money on ‘sight’: billboards, posters, and print and TV advertising (albeit the latter is partly auditory). With every brand dominating the same space, the sense of sight is overloaded. Studies have shown that when visual prompts are combined with pleasant olfactory experiences, branding has 4-5 times the impact. Forward-thinking brands that want to stand out from the crowd should be using these powerful psychological blind spots to their advantage.
Just as influential as unconscious sensory-centric decisions are the unconscious assumptions we make. Paul Craven, economist (and member of the magic circle!), relayed that we are subject to over 120 unconscious biases. Marketeers should understand and identify our biased perceptions and can even play off and challenge them to optimise marketing messages.
Lets see if you are as aware of your biases as you think you are. Answer me this riddle. A young boy and his father are in a car accident. The father dies at the scene. The boy is transported to the hospital, taken immediately into surgery… but the surgeon steps out of the operating room and says, “I can’t operate on this boy – he is my son! How is this possible? Think about it. I didn’t want you to see the answer right away so it’s at the bottom of the article. I was amazed and quite embarrassed I didn’t get it.
It’s fair to say that we’re largely unaware of why we do what we do and make the decisions we make. Similarly, our intentions do not equal our actions. As Phil Barden says, “Behaviour = product of the person X circumstance”. Thus we may intend with to go to the gym three times a week but we don’t and we can’t always predict how we will react in certain situations.
Brands that understand our unconscious behaviour and beliefs, and apply these principles of decision-making science, will not only come out on top, but also double the value of their marketing budget.