Ensuring your message gets through

'Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half', said John Wanamaker (1838-1922), an American marketing pioneer.

This statement triggers two immediate reactions in me: first, what a monumental inefficiency in the handling of economic resources! And second, what admirable honesty in admitting the limits of his job!

In today's digital age, the proliferation of data generated by digital media advertising has significantly mitigated this inefficiency. However, to what extent? Although I have not found a quantitative and validated answer, I am convinced that the concern remains.

Current metrics, like the 'click-through rate', evaluate the effectiveness of the advertising issued but cannot predict the impact of unimagined campaigns.

This article in the 'Brain-pleasing marketing' newsletter aims to help minimize this gap of inefficiency in advertising through this methodology.

The beginning of the 'customer neuro-journey'

Beyond the traditional 'customer journey,' which outlines the stages of the purchasing process, we are interested in examining the mental process of customers on this journey. Although we have addressed this tool in previous articles, here we will focus in detail on the initial phases, when the advertisement reaches the individual.

It all begins with an advertisement, regardless of its type, that reaches a person's senses (sight, hearing, etc.). In neuroscience, this is called 'stimuli' or 'sense data'. The eyes do not see, but they capture something external and then transmit the electrochemical signal to the brain, which ultimately interprets or translates it, giving it meaning: 'Ah, it's a new type of yogurt', for example.

For the brain to come to a conclusion, a complex process is required. In this initial phase, there is a protagonist, much less famous than other parts of the brain: the thalamus.

The brain’s guardian: the thalamus

Located right in the center of the brain, forming part of the diencephalon, this area acts like a 'control tower.' It takes in information from our senses and from inside our body, processes it, and then sends it to other parts of the brain. This helps everything in our body work together smoothly.

The thalamus is like a gatekeeper in the brain's castle, deciding which sensory information we need to pay attention to and which can be ignored.

This job is very important because paying attention to something uses a lot of energy from glucose and increases glutamate levels. Since this process takes time, without the thalamus to help, our brain's thinking part would get too tired from all the information, data, notifications, and signals we receive all the time.

The role of the thalamus has direct implications in perception, attention, and ultimately memory.

The advertising sector, which has already discovered the impact of emotions, should delve into the study of the thalamus. Understanding its mechanism is crucial, as it determines whether a person becomes aware of an advertisement in front of them. Conscious awareness goes before emotional activation.

Its existence questions the metric called 'reach' in digital advertising, as having an advertisement in front of us does not guarantee its conscious perception: the thalamus may have discarded it, even though the eyes sent the signal to the brain.

What else does this muscular guardian do?

The thalamus not only filters sensory information but also channels it towards the cortical region, where our deep memory primarily resides. Here, the newly arrived information is contrasted with what is already stored: previous knowledge, experiences, habits, values, prejudices, and cultural connotations.

This glass bridge vision triggers a brain alert: Beware, it's fragile! Better not proceed. This clash between the new stimulus and pre-existing memory is particularly intense.

The confrontation can vary in intensity depending on three aspects:

1. The degree of harmony or dissonance of the new element with the pre-existing. What may be familiar to some cultures may be strange to others. Thus, the universality of a message is an ambitious challenge for advertisers.
2. The depth of the roots of the pre-existing. The more deeply ingrained it is, generated whether through deep reasoning or high emotional intensity, the more rooted it becomes.
3. The degree of importance or relevance that such an issue has for the recipient, especially if they perceive something dangerous. Honoring the late Daniel Kahneman's teachings, our brains avoid risks before going after what makes us happy.

The thalamus's task does not end with the filtration of information; after receiving feedback from the cortex, it must reevaluate the need to discard or amplify the message. In the case of the glass bridge, the thalamus could emphasize to the cortex that it is made with the latest generation glass, backed by certified technical controls, etc.

The fascinating aspect here is the disparity in the 'bandwidth' between the information (advertising) reaching the brain and that which the cortex responds to. The response from deep memory possesses 6 times more bits than the incoming flow, indicating that influencing entrenched beliefs is a daunting task. Although not impossible, the brain finds changes uncomfortable, especially when it perceives risk.

Visualizing in depth the start of the Customer Neuro-Journey

This diagram illustrates the first steps a message takes upon being detected by human senses:

The first thing that must go well, in chronological order, is for the message to reach the person in the right context, meaning at the right time and place. For example, promoting a beachfront property in a page with an article about rising sea levels due to climate change is clearly a bad idea.

Secondly, to improve a message's effectiveness, another type of context must be considered: the type of purchasing process in which such a message appears. Normally, when the purchase is very repetitive, we are dealing with a basic product category (commodity). On the other hand, if it involves an infrequent or sporadic purchase, it is likely to be a high-involvement product.

A) In contexts where purchase decisions are routine and repetitive, the thalamus favors messages that gently harmonize with what is already stored in deep memory. Surprises are welcome but avoid proposing major changes.

Consider, for example, the experience of shopping in a local supermarket: if the location of the chocolate suddenly changes, the initial surprise may disorient or even annoy customers. This change essentially acts as a multisensory message since it involves several senses, regardless of whether there are written signs informing about the chocolate new location.

Let's now look at a case aimed at generating preference for a product category considered a commodity, such as a fast-food chain. Here, Pret-a-Manger.

This advertisement doesn't seek a direct clash with pre-existing memories. Although the message is simple – our products are always fresh – its delivery surprises with a clever visual metaphor, like shoes made out of baguettes. Simple semantics, yet surprising semiotics.

A third example takes us to the bagpipers on the iconic Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland, where the abundance of musicians turns them into commodities.

So many, that many go unnoticed.

However, another bagpiper, while staying semiotically within the musical codes of his category (recognisable semantics), stands out by pairing with other musicians who play seated and with different instruments (surprising semiotics).

The result of such auditory and visual stimuli is that the thalamus understands the product category ('bagpiper') well, but is pleasantly surprised by the enrichment.

This attracts the audience, who react in the usual way: they stop, listen, take photos or videos, and finally, some choose to give a financial contribution. This 'advertisement' for a commodity service was commercially successful.

B) When the message is inserted in a context of punctual purchase or is associated with high-involvement product categories, like buying a car, it needs to surprise both in content (semantics) and in form (semiotics).

In these cases, the message must boldly challenge the mental statu quo, proposing a change that promises to improve some aspect of the recipient's future life.

This example from 2001 fulfills it.

Notice how the message focuses on making you feel in advance what the product will generate in you (the excitement of not being able to sleep that first night), instead of detailing the major features of the product.

Product Life Cycle and its impact on the message

Applying cognitive and affective neuroscience, that is, the brain-pleasing marketing approach, allows for managing marketing in a distinctly effective way. However, old tools that are still valid play a significant role. One of them is the Product Life Cycle (remember to apply it not to a specific product, but to the entire category).

This scheme aims to illustrate how to approach communication, depending on whether the product category is in its initial stages or, on the contrary, has reached a point where the ‘pie’ no longer grows.

The exception cited about another way to approach brain-pleasing advertising when the product is 'commodity' will be developed in another article. Here, the major route suitable for such a phase of the life cycle has been presented.

Seven practical guidelines for getting the message across

To ensure an advertising message is well-received by the thalamus, the brain's guardian, seven recommendations are offered:

1

Contextualisation. The message must be designed considering the current context of the receiver. What was effective at one time may not be under changed circumstances, as we have seen during the pandemic.

2

Innovation and surprise: To capture the thalamus's attention, starting with something novel and surprising is essential. Messages that include intense body movements or facial expressions have a greater impact. Being too modest can lead to invisibility and irrelevance.

3

Content and form interrelation: The surprise can emanate from either content, form, or both. However, they must be in perfect harmony. An attractive image alone is counterproductive if it does not form a conceptual and stylistic unity with the text.

4

Adjustment according to the product category: The nature and intensity of the surprise must be very different, depending on whether the product category is a commodity or high-involvement one. For high-involvement products, the emphasis should be placed on semantics (content aimed at future gratification) rather than on semiotics. In this scenario, semiotics serves as a ‘backdrop’. However, if the product or service is a commodity, a surprising yet cute packaging or ease of use will suffice, maintaining the category's meaning (semantics).

5

Harmonise instead of Convince: Given the enormous strength of what already exists in deep memory, the message should not seek to convince by arguing, especially not aggressively.

It is preferable to seek to seduce, or even better, to aspire to harmonise with what already exists.

This does not mean parroting what already resides in the receiver's mind but rather taking the route of 'yes, but…'.

Here, the 'yes' is something on which both sender and receiver agree, while the 'but…' introduces a new perspective that the thalamus will find stimulating and worthy of exploration.

6

Minimize risk first; then highlight the positive: As communicating is about making them feel, reducing perceived risk should be a priority, in case there was something that could arouse it. Once the no-risk is assured, then let them imagine a future gratification (in the case of a high-involvement product) or a reduction of friction (in the case of commodity).

7

Positive emotional impact: A message that awakens intense positive emotions and surprises both in content and form will activate the amygdalae and the hippocampus, ensuring a place in long-term memory.

The use of abstract and generic words (e.g., quality, sustainability, service, warranty, etc.) does not lead to the city of memory; the thalamus disregards them, and they do not pass through.

Final note:

What is proposed for messages related to basic products (commodity) is something that works for the vast majority of brands in this type of market.

However, there is another approach, truly unique and special, that will be explored in the next article of this newsletter.

This article is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International  cc Lluis Martinez-Ribes, April 2024, BCN