The Mind & Marketing
This is a guest post from Geoff Wolf. There are a lot of multichannel (multi-touch, multi-whatever-the-hell-you-want-to-call-it) consultants out there. The majority of them couldn’t sell (or give) a hamburger to a hungry man and I am completely convinced they’re only “consultants” because nobody on earth is crazy enough to hire them. Geoff is one of the very few exceptions I’ve ever met. (And yes, I mean that quite literally.) He’s been helping clients overcome their multichannel challenges for a long time and he’s exceptional at it. Maybe it’s because he has owned a couple businesses. Perhaps it’s because he listens to AND identifies with his clients (a rarity these days.) Likely, it’s because he’s just razor-sharp. Either way, I am happy to have him here…
I believe the role of perceptions in marketing is often overlooked within today’s analytic madness (yes, we do need that madness). The human mind is at the center of how we understand words, images and messages. By the way, my proofreader is on vacation this week so if I misspell something within this writing or perhaps even skip a word, please forgive me. Fortunately for me, even my editor is vacation too so I can really ignore the usual rules of the trade.
Now, did you notice I skipped the word “on” above between “is” and “vacation?” Those of you who are copywriters or had the good English teachers in high school probably noticed the word missing. The rest of us did not catch the error or need to as our brains simply filled in the missing word because we expected it to be there in the first place.
Since this is the Qlog, I have license to diverge…… speaking of high school, we actually used to play chess in our boring high school classes. The board was written in pen and the chess pieces in pencil. You would simply pass the paper back and forth, determine what move the opponent had made, and then make your next move. Maybe that is why my high school girlfriend ditched me?
So, the brain fills stuff in for us based on our history of experiences. Rather than fake a psychology lecture here, let’s just all agree that this is true. What happens when one of our marketing messages is created and sent to the consumer?
I just checked my email and found a chocolate offer. Yes, that is my marketing habit, I noticed one “with an offer” even though I have not purchased from them in five years. The “marketing” brains behind this ad offered me “$5 off shipping for 3 days only!” My “consumer” brain saw chocolate in the email, which made my mouth start watering and sent me directly to the cabinet for some chocolate. Then, I returned to the email, decided I already have enough chocolate for the next month, and moved on.
Perhaps a message addressing their unique selling proposition, like “the chocolate keeps me looking younger” or “why buying their chocolate earns brownie points with my wife,” may have been more persuasive to my taste buds. Or, why do I need to have more chocolate stashed than I can eat right now? (A future ship date would have been helpful). Or, if 10% of the proceeds go to saving the whales, then every 10th bite will be guilt-free.
Can I prove this theory with analytics and testing? Yes, a worthy investment.
A colleague reminded me yesterday that marketing is 50% analytics and 50% intuition. The intuition half is about your perceptions interacting with the consumers’ perceptions. Staying focused on a clear, unique selling proposition is the best way to manage perceptions in today’s marketing environment.
Geoff Wolf can be reached at Geoff.wolf@lenser.com
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