Psychology of PR and Marketing, a Neuromarketing Conversation with Joanne Bloomfield, FCIM, February 28, 2018

By Heather M. Edwards

Neuromarketing is essentially a marketing research discipline, the results of which can be translated into a real-world environment, according to neuromarketing expert Joanne Bloomfield, FCIM, president of The Marketing Boutique and PRPLI guest speaker.

In her presentation, Bloomfield points out that neuromarketing explores human behavior in relation to how we make decisions. She says, “Understanding key brain systems and the role they play in decision making is critical. Over 90 percent of our decisions are made subconsciously (in the reptilian/limbic systems), which makes this approach to crafting messaging and design so important. It allows marketers to structure their communication to accommodate the emotional cortex (the decision-making center of the brain) ahead of the slower, linear neocortex – where language is processed.”

 

Reptilian complex:  Instincts

Limbic System:  Emotions; this is where 95 percent of decisions are made

Neocortex:  Rational thinking/language processing

 

How can you apply neuromarketing to your public relations and marketing efforts?  

Appeal to our limbic brain: Emotion trumps logic every single time, says Bloomfield.

Endeavor to illicit an emotional response with your messages. This will create more meaningful, impactful communications that will help you position your brand/client in their subconscious.

Use different senses in your messages to provide a multisensory experience. Think beyond just writing and incorporate video and sound, and utilize casual language.

Sound: Music transforms you back to a memory and forms an emotional response

Scent: Infuse scent on your materials, e.g., pine scent for a ski resort

Touch: Incorporate tactile messages, real-world touch to allow consumers to engage with your brand

 

Make your message bite-size and different. The emotional core of the brain is illiterate, it needs simple, emotional (visual) clues to decide if it wants to hang around to read.

  • How many times can you recall a funny Super Bowl commercial, but cannot remember the brand it was for? Tell a story that resonates but always brings you back to your brand. Think Geico … 15 minutes or … you know the rest.
  • Brevity makes all the difference in your writing. If your message is more than 400 words, you have lost the reader. Use art and images.
  • Importance of photography: Your brain goes to the eye, a movement, a feeling, a story. Make your photos look natural.
  • Millennials have grown up in the digital space; authenticity matters most.
  • In reaching the media, focus on the person who takes care of the journalist, the gatekeeper, the rising star versus the actual journalist.

Advice for Clients: Simple=True=Trust

  • Market to human beings, not prospects.
  • Do they understand me? Did I make it simple enough?
  • In designing your website, make sure you follow the flow.
  • Who likes us, how long have we been doing this, and then what do we do.
  • Prospects are looking to connect, not transact.

Bloomfield (http://themarketing.boutique/) will be conducting a follow-up discussion on this topic at a PRPLI meeting on October 24 from 8:30 to 10 a.m. at a location to be announced.

Heather Edwards is vice president, Business Development, Lorraine Gregory Communications Group.