Month: October 2009

The “Hidden Persuaders” returns with the growing role of Neuromarketing: “Your message or materials will be absorbed directly into the consumer’s subsconscious” [Annals of Mass Micro-Persuasion]

As we have explained to policymakers in the US and EU, the growing use of neuroscience techniques requires government scrutiny and regulatory safeguards. Even political campaigns appear to be using such methods.  No one should be permitted, in my opinion, to devise any public effort that is designed to deliberately influence the unconscious part of our brain.

Here’s an except from a research paper by a Nielsen backed neuromarketing firm called Neurofocus.   The paper is “Absorption:  How Messages Morph into Meaning And Value in The Mind,” and was written by Dr. A. K. Pradeep.  [published September 2008]

Engagement brings you to the threshold. Absorption carries you beyond, to the state where your message or other material has been fully taken in by the consumer’s brain... Full absorption is also when your message or materials or retail environment, etc. return the highest rate of impact and value for your investment. But neuroscientific research demonstrates that you cannot, and will not, reach that goal consistently and most effectively unless and until you understand how the brain actually functions, and you shape your messages/material /environment accordingly.

For example, as I cited above, we have identified 67 specific ‘best practices’ that should be implemented when words and images are presented on a screen (any screen, from a TV or PC to a mobile phone or movie theater). They are the result of advanced neurological research into various brain functions, and especially research that has delved into the mysteries of diseases like Alzheimer’s, and brain conditions like ADD/ADHD, obsessive/compulsive behavior, and bipolar disorder.

Follow these best practices, give the brain what it wants and likes most, and you stand the best chance of success for your brand and your investment. Your message or materials will be absorbed directly into the consumer’s subconscious, where we can measure them for their effectiveness at the level devoid of any ‘outside’ contaminating influences like education, language, cultural ethnicity or other factors.





Coca Cola Collects Pictures of Faces for its “Database” using Facebook. What About Privacy?

Coca Cola has developed what it calls a “Facial Profiler” as part of a online marketing campaign.  The idea is that it will help identify people that look like you.  Here’s what the Coca Cola site says:

“Facial Profiler is a one-of-a-kind app that matches and connects people via Facebook.  But before we can do it, we need to compile a database of faces around the world.  So add your photo to the database.  The sooner it’s filled, the sooner we can unlock the results.”

Does CIA now also stand for Coke Intelligence Agency?  Will Coca Cola link people’s faces with its other forms of data collection, like MyCoke rewards?

Online Behavioral Marketing: “targeting types of people”

excerpt:  “Were seeing a fundamental shift from where traditionally marketers have targeted pages, to where they’re targeting types of people” [ says Joshua Koran, VP, Targeting and Optimization, ValueClick, Inc.].   Advertisers can tailor their campaigns for a stronger impact by better understanding the behaviors and characteristics of their ideal customers, and by serving ads only to them. The ads’ messages can be tailored to the tastes of these customers, in addition to the content near the ad…They look through an advertiser’s historic data, analyzing the behaviors of the people who ultimately clicked on an ad or converted. Software helps them mine this data to better understand which behaviors have a high correlation with conversion.

Using the insights from data mining, they target ads to people with the same characteristics of those who have already clicked or converted…”Even without knowing ahead of time which audiences are more likely to respond to a campaign, we can watch which audience are clicking and converting and begin targeting more of them.”

source:   Behavioral Targeting: 3 Methods Compared, and Tips on Simplifying Data.  via Adtech.