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Neuromarketing

A Special Report

Marcia E. Hoeck

Hoeck AssociAtes, inc.

Visual Strategic Branding

& Integrated Marketing Communications

Neuromarketing

Surveys, focus groups, and other customer-polling measures have always been marketing’s

way of trying to “get inside the head of the consumer.” But in the past few years, as a few

enterprising researchers started putting medical equipment to some novel non-medical

uses, a new way of getting inside the consumer’s head – literally – was born.

It sounds like something from a science iction movie. Hatched in the late 1990s by

Gerald Zaltman of Harvard University, “neuromarketing” attempts to decipher what

pushes customers’ buttons by placing volunteers in MRI tubes or covering their heads with

electrodes. Researchers show products, ads, and other marketing materials to participants,

and then study the lines on the EEG or watch brain bloodlow patterns on MRI images.

What they see gives them insights not only into what that person is thinking, but more

importantly, into how they’re reacting to the product — subconsciously.

Researchers have already plotted a few hot spots. The ventral putamen is a rewards center

of the brain; activity there indicates that something is pleasing, such as if the subject

enjoys the taste of a soft drink or food. The somatosensory cortex will light up if a subject

is mentally emulating a sensory experience, if she’s “trying it out” in her head. And

then there’s the bulls-eye — the medial prefrontal cortex, a brain center associated with

personal identity. If you think about a Hummer and your medial prefrontal cortex ires,

neuromarketing scientists say this means that Hummer jibes with your sense of who you

are. It’s “so you.” You want it. It’s a sell, way down to the level of instinct. No wonder big

corporations — Kellogg and Proctor & Gamble among them — are willing to try their

hands at this admittedly controversial technology.

Scrutinizing the Pepsi Challenge

The Pepsi Challenge of the 1980s and 90s was a bit of a paradox. When blindfolded

people were asked which of two soft drink samples they preferred, Pepsi emerged as the

clear winner. Yet year after year, Coke outsells Pepsi. Why? This sort of puzzle was ripe for

investigation by neuromarketing.

Hoeck AssociAtes, inc.

Visual Strategic Branding

& Integrated Marketing Communications

4461 W. Alexis Rd.

Toledo, OH 43623

ph: 419.472.8808

fax: 419.472.8676

In 2003, Read Montague, a Baylor College of Medicine neuroscientist, recreated the

Challenge with subjects in MRI machines. The irst round of tests conirmed the indings

of the original Challenge: in blind taste tests, the subjects’ ventral putamens (the rewards

centers) were stimulated more when the subjects were drinking Pepsi than when they were

drinking Coke. This indicated that objectively, Pepsi does indeed taste better.

Next, Montague repeated the experiment with one change: he told the subjects which

samples were Coke. This time, the MRI showed activity in the medial prefrontal cortex,

which governs higher-level cognition in addition to being associated with personal identity.

And the taste test results? Astonishingly, when subjects knew what they were drinking,

almost everyone voted in favor of the Coke samples.

P.O. Box 816

Gilbert, AZ 85299

ph: 480.634.7677

fax: 480.209.1025

www.hoeck.net

If the subjects preferred Pepsi on a pure-reaction level, what was happening? Montague’s

conclusion was that the subjects were cogitating before deciding, recalling and weighing

their impressions about Coke. Even though Pepsi wins on taste, Coke wins in terms of its

impression, its appearance within the culture. In other words, Coke owes its success not

only to its taste, but more to its image. To its brand .

Attention and the iling cabinet

While MRI studies provide objective insights into customers’ perceptions, they are also

very expensive. Smart neuromarketing (not to mention smart budgeting) means applying

some of neurology’s less expensive tools before booking a suite at the local imaging center.

It pays to have some knowledge of how the brain works ahead of time.

The brain likes to keep things simple. It doesn’t like to work harder than it needs to, so it

arranges memories using similarity and association. One popular metaphor is that of the

brain as a iling cabinet, with similar or associated items iled together in the same folder.

Similarity helps the brain to learn and to group things together. For instance, you can

memorize a phone number by repeating it rote until it sinks in, but you’ll remember it

immediately if it happens to be very similar to your own. Associations allow the brain to

link one thing to another. Pavlov’s dogs associated the ringing of a bell with food, making

the bell a trigger that would call up the many associations the dogs already had to food.

Successful marketing uses knowledge about the way minds work to make messages more

attractive, and to trigger stored impressions. A solid marketing initiative will capture

people’s attention because it stands out (the main purpose of attention is to help ilter out

extraneous information) and because the message is clear (unambiguous) and consistent.

Coke’s marketing efforts thus far have, as Montague’s Pepsi Challenge suggests, done a fair

job of planting positive associations in the minds of the public. The public also knows that

Coke’s colors are red and white. If Coke wants to capture people’s attention and access

those already-stored positive impressions, it should continue to use red and white, and its

familiar wave graphic. That’s consistent, it’s clear, and it harnesses Coke’s pre-established

clout when it comes to capturing attention.

Hoeck AssociAtes, inc.

Visual Strategic Branding

& Integrated Marketing Communications

4461 W. Alexis Rd.

Toledo, OH 43623

ph: 419.472.8808

fax: 419.472.8676

The brain likes to simplify and to lump related items together — and all the better if

this lump can be summed up under one key thought. This is how brands grow; all of

the impressions of a company and its products are stored together, with the brand (an

image, colors, a style of presentation) as the trigger. If a company packs as many positive

associations as has Nike into the minds of the public (Michael Jordan, you’ll be able

to play like a pro, you can ly, you’ll “Just Do It”), the associated brand holds almost

talismanic power. While Nike was planting thoughts in the minds of the public, the image

that accompanied them was always the Nike Swoosh. Plant an association, show the

Swoosh. Over and over again, until the Swoosh became a trigger for all of those stored

impressions. The company name isn’t even used much in advertising anymore. It’s just the

Swoosh. It’s just like Pavlov ringing the bell for his dogs, recalling all that Nike has already

sown in the consumer’s mind.

P.O. Box 816

Gilbert, AZ 85299

ph: 480.634.7677

fax: 480.209.1025

www.hoeck.net

An imperfect science

Neuromarketing is not without controversy. Even some scientists involved admit that

while there is a lot of data from MRI and EEG studies, it doesn’t necessarily prove anything

concrete. The brain is still very much of an enigma even to neuroscientists, and just

because a certain area of the brain is active does not mean that anyone really knows what

it is doing. There are also those who feel that neuromarketing is a bit too Orwellian for

their tastes. Reacting to this sort of concern, scientists say that they only wish they had that

kind of insight or control. Like any marketing tool, MRI research is not an end-all be-all. It

provides data, to be analyzed in context.

Still, the prospects are exciting. Controversial or no, MRI studies promise to help those

with large enough budgets to hone their efforts, playing into department store magnate

John Wannamaker’s quip that he knew that half of his advertising costs were wasted, but

that he didn’t know which half. If neuromarketing can at least narrow down what works

and what doesn’t, it may help to illuminate which of Wannamaker’s halves is which, saving

money and increasing effectiveness at the same time.

While far from imperfect, the one thing that neuromarketing unquestionably has going

for it is that it’s objective — something that most traditional marketing effectiveness

assessment tools cannot claim. Focus groups, for instance, are plagued by certain aspects

of human nature that cannot be divorced from the process. Sometimes a strong personality

in the group will sway the group’s opinions. Often, groups tell those leading it what they

want to hear instead of what they really think. For better or for worse, you can’t lie to an

MRI machine. The truth is there — and the real question is just how well, and to what

extent, neuromarketers will be able to read it. l

Sources:

- Thompson, Clive, “There’s a Sucker Born in Every Medial Prefrontal Cortex,”

The New York Times, October 26, 2003

- http://www.cognitiveliberty.org

- http://www.economist.com

Hoeck AssociAtes, inc.

Visual Strategic Branding

& Integrated Marketing Communications

4461 W. Alexis Rd.

Toledo, OH 43623

ph: 419.472.8808

fax: 419.472.8676

Marcia Hoeck is president and CEO of Hoeck Associates, Inc.

For more interesting marketing communication articles and reports,

visit the Marketing Tips section of www.hoeck.net

Hoeck Associates specializes in visual strategic branding.

We concentrate on the translation of intangible company, product,

or service assets into tangible, meaningful communications.

P.O. Box 816

Gilbert, AZ 85299

ph: 480.634.7677

fax: 480.209.1025

We help companies bring visible strategic focus

to the power of their speciic brand ingerprint

to gain sustainable competitive advantage.

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