”You have to tell a story before you sell an idea” when someone ask me define marketing in one word, I would say marketing is an idea. Marketing is an integral part of every business operation and there are various ways in which it can be done, one such way is Neuromarketing.

For instance, let us consider the fact that on a daily basis we don’t just buy products that we need, we are actually buying products which the seller wants to sell because marketing is not done for the customers it is done along with the customers. When I say it is done along with the customers, marketing managers along with experts conduct a study on customer’s reactions on various aspects of a product such as sound, colour, packaging, this is done by using intense technique like Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI). Aforementioned technique of studying one’s brain and branding the product according to the response is called Neuromarketing.

How is Neuromarketing research done?

Neuromarketing is used to track the customer’s reaction on viewing a particular product or its advertisements along with other products in a mall, this tracking is done by having the subject wear an Electroencephalogram (EEG) cap with electrodes placed all over the subject’s head. It records the electrical impulse on the surface of the brain, along with this an eye tracking goggles to reveal what exactly the subject is looking at while shopping. This will give a clear picture of what the customers are actually looking for in a product display.

This technique is a pure form of science, which is used as a tool in marketing, to understand if this really helps in marketing. Let us consider an example wherein, two big beverage brands Coca Cola and Pepsi both were given at a time to a set of candidates with blindfold, when they tried without looking at the badging most of them preferred Pepsi over Coke, but when the same candidates were given the same Coke and Pepsi without the blindfold majority preferred Coke. This was because the badging’s were displayed and the brand value of Coke made them jump to Coke irrespective of what their taste buds were telling them. This Neuro Science experiment revealed that after displaying coke’s badging, it stimulated parts of the brain that dealt with memory, cultural identity and even self-image. On the other side brain scans of people shown a Pepsi badging did not show such reactions.

This experiment gives a brief idea about how neuromarketing analysis help marketing experts to improve their knowledge about customers and their behaviour about a particular product this in turn enhances the overall marketing campaigns of companies.

First Impression is the Best Impression!

We never get a second chance to make our first impression be it in an interview or in marketing. First impression matters in case of selling your product because first good impressions can always influence customers and improve sales.

The first impression creating process starts right from the point where the product is been delivered to the doorstep and the customer unwraps it. Packaging plays a major role in creating a good first impression, firstly the textures on the package needs to be pleasant, engaging secondly the fragrance inside the package matters because a good fragrance stimulates a positive response towards the package and finally the quality of the product inside has to match with expectations created while unboxing the package. These are few ways by which companies get a first good impression on their products as per neuromarketing strategies, if the same techniques are followed through out, it will help the company to retain customers.

Your Friend cannot eat food without first clicking a picture of it.

Have you ever come across slogans inside restaurants that says “Like your meal? Make it a memory” or “Share a photo of your favourite on your social media and get a discount on your next order”. But even if we don’t come across these sign boards, we tend to click pictures and share them on social media because that’s been the recent trend.

Now let us get back to the point, the moment you see such a poster or slogan in a restaurant and click a picture of the food that you have ordered you take a small break to capture it, this break creates a joy of anticipation and hence makes the food taste better. These are all minute ways in which marketing experts influence customers.

These are all few basic examples or experiments that I have considered to understand the meaning and impacts of neuromarketing on sales of a company. Neuromarketing helps the marketing experts to understand the likes and dislikes of customers, which is very important for a business to survive.

When we casually conduct a survey the respondent’s reply may not be genuine at times but when you have a device to track the real-time responses it cannot go wrong, since neuromarketing directly tracks the response of individuals and helps businesses to create what the customer needs. This is the reason why I told you in the beginning that we are not buying products that we need instead we are actually buying products which the seller wants to sell.

Now tell me, Is Your Brain Hacked?

Chethan Kumar R
II MBA, DSCE