As Marketers, we’re always focused on our brand perception, brand aspiration, brand positioning, and brand image, but is that enough to win? How do you ensure you will have the edge against competition? Well, Neuromarketing brings us closer to the answer: build a brand fantasy.
This takes the concept of aspirational to an even higher level and focuses on the unconscious feeling – gut feeling – as users decide within a split second to make a purchase. Let’s agree that a single brand can only own one simple idea in consumer’s minds, since anything more than that shows a lack of corporate focus. In order to truly reach the unconscious, emotional triggers of consumers, Marketers need to feel the brand in the eyes of their consumers…in the world/fantasy they live in.
The fashion industry does this well by creating moods and dream worlds that unconsciously connects the consumer with a marketing strategy. Close your eyes and think of your favorite clothing store:
- Can you imagine the store in your mind? What does this world look like? What does it smell like? What types of people work there? What mood do their create?
- Now, think of Tiffany’s or North Face – what world do they create?
- Tiffany’s = turquoise box, fancy, shiny, upscale
- North Face = outdoor travel and sports, snow, rain
You should be able to imagine the brand world and what it consists of; everything from the people who wear the product, to how you feel when you wear the product, and what environments you’re in when you wear the product. This is a brand fantasy and is precisely what leads to purchase decisions and brand loyalty. More importantly, these fantasies lead to “loyalty beyond reason” as consumers remain loyal despite competition and rarely waste time or energy on anything else.
Our perception of the world is a fantasy that coincides with reality – Chris Frith
As humans, our brands have not evolved much from the “fight or flight” mentality, we aren’t as sophisticated as we think. We’re forcing our brains to make conscious emotional decisions that we just aren’t wired for, but that’s ok, as Marketers we just need to understand this. We aren’t aware of the majority of our brain’s activity and purchases – most of these come from the gut, from a past experience, or some other emotional trigger that is completely unconscious.
Proctor & Gamble coined “the moment of truth” and that’s exactly what we should be after in Digital, Social, and Community Marketing. This is make it or break it time for your marketing strategy and either get your products in a shopping cart or stuck on a shelf.
Every touch point (brand, marketing, web, packaging, PR) should strive to build and create the right connections and brand fantasy that trigger the unconscious buying decision.