Categories
Behavioral Science
November 18, 2011
While connecting with consumers on an emotional level is clearly good for business (even essential as it becomes harder and harder for companies to differentiate themselves and their offerings) bridging the consumer’s right brain with management’s left brain is no easy task.
0
This is the ninth in a series of cartoons by award-winning cartoonist Tom Fishburne, titled “Moments of Truth,” sponsored by Motista.
By Alan Zorfas
The brain, more specifically the “right brain,” (more accurately the amygdala), carries in it the powerful emotions that drive people’s decisions. As marketers, we intuitively feel that if we could only unlock “why” someone does something—their true motivations—then we could turn our marketing program into the next rave.
The “what” is easy. There’s no shortage of consumer opinion about our products and services. Through social media and our own websites, consumers have outlets to share a steady stream of consciousness about their likes and dislikes.
But the “why” is hard. Unlocking the “unconscious” motivators that lie beneath the surface requires time, money, expertise and “brilliant” insight—if not a hypnotist, as implied by our latest Marketoon from Tom Fishburne. I have to empathize with the marketer hero here. Her eager disposition hints at the enormous pressure she’s under to get the next campaign into the market fast to impact next quarter results. She impatiently waits for the moment when the consumer “reveals all.”
If probing the right brain of consumers wasn’t hard enough whether through hypnosis, tea leaves or a more robust means of research, her next challenge is the “left brain.” Not of the consumer, but of the management team. Soon, she’ll be presenting her findings and implications to executives, most of whom put their intuitive thinking on hold during business hours. Buying into “emotion” doesn’t fit with the business-minded, numbers driven context that drives the C-Suite. Can you imagine the divisional president telling his directors that he’s counting on the “hypnotist” findings to drive performance?
While connecting with consumers on an emotional level is clearly good for business (even essential as it becomes harder and harder for companies to differentiate themselves and their offerings) bridging the consumer’s right brain with management’s left brain is no easy task.
No wonder there’s a “connection gap” between companies and consumers.
What marketers need is critical intelligence that speaks to the “why” and that can be used to inform campaign development and motivate consumers. Having the right intelligence gives your company the internal language—the data and analytics—to help left-brained executives understand and buy into emotion. In the process, that intelligence also helps our marketer transform from helpless and hopeful to successful and persuasive.
That’s a moment of truth.
Disclaimer
The views, opinions, data, and methodologies expressed above are those of the contributor(s) and do not necessarily reflect or represent the official policies, positions, or beliefs of Greenbook.
Comments
Comments are moderated to ensure respect towards the author and to prevent spam or self-promotion. Your comment may be edited, rejected, or approved based on these criteria. By commenting, you accept these terms and take responsibility for your contributions.
More from Leonard Murphy
Dive into the CEO Series with guest Hamish Brocklebank, CEO of Brox.AI. Explore his path from music ...
Explore the power of AI in marketing with behaviorally's CEO, Alex Hunt. Learn how to leverage predi...
There have been a few big inflection points of societal disruption driven by technology in the last 50 years: One was the introduction of the Internet...
We previously announced the milestone of our Insight Innovation Exchange (IIEX) conference series’ 10th anniversary, celebrating a decade of identifyi...
Top in Quantitative Research
Why are we still measuring brand loyalty? It isn’t something that naturally comes up with consumers, who rarely think about brand first, if at all. Ma...
Sign Up for
Updates
Get content that matters, written by top insights industry experts, delivered right to your inbox.
67k+ subscribers