Ever since I spoke to Erik Hauser last year I've been looking for an opportunity to speak with him again. He's optimistic, he's infectiously enthusiastic, and he has a lot to say on a lot of different topics almost any hour of the day or night (as anyone who follows the Experiential Marketing Forum knows).
Long story short, I asked him if I could interview him for this here podcast, and he amicably agreed. Rather than asking him to define "experiential marketing" for the umpteenth time, I thought instead it would be more illuminating to talk about emotionally connecting with brands, using experiential marketing techniques when searching for a job, and, of course, Gene Simmons. So that's what we did.
I invite you to listen in on our conversation. You can do so by clicking on the Flash device below. You are also welcome to download an mp3 of this interview by "right-clicking" ("control-clicking," Mac-wise) on this link. Finally, this and other Talent Blog Podcasts are always available on iTunes. Heck, you can even subscribe to our podcast there!
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A few highlights of the interview can be found at the following time coordinates:
00:59 - Gene Simmons: The Genius
05:19 - You need a 3rd Party to serve as "Keeper of the Brand"
10:04 - You want to raise demand? Decrease the supply! (From Hydrox to Polaroid)
12:01 - The "outside perspective"
14:45 - The EMF: How moderating discussions increases their value
16:08 - Keys to nurturing a vital online community
20:05 - "Experiential" is a methodology, not a tactic
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In Part 1 of our podcast interview with James Intriligator, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Wales in Bangor, we talked about branding, loyalty, and consumer psychology.
In Part 2, we discuss personae and customer motivation, different neuormarketing approaches, and how understanding the brain can help us make more effective commercials (among other things, of course).
Listen in on our conversation by clicking on the Flash device below. You are also welcome to download an mp3 of this interview by "right-clicking" ("control-clicking," Mac-wise) on this link. You can also check out this and other Talent Blog Podcasts on iTunes. Heck, you can even subscribe to our podcast there!
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A few highlights of the interview can be found at the following time coordinates:
01:50 - How to Get the Most out of Focus Groups
03:52 - Aunt Sally and the Straw Man
05:03 - Customer Motivation: Dreams and Aspirations (not just Fears, Uncertainties, and Doubts)
09:59 - Marketing and Branding from a Strategic, Artistic Perspective
11:55 - "There are a lot of good things you can do with marketing"
13:39 - Defining "Neuromarketing"
15:16 - Pros and Cons of Different Neuromarketing Approaches
17:15 - "If someone wants to pursue marketing from a neuromarketing perspective..."
20:44 - The Classic Mistake that Most Ads Make
21:58 - Another Classic Mistake
24:16 - Segment the Emotional and Attentional Aspects of Your Campaigns
Image Courtesy of Looking Glass.
The other day an SEM specialist told me, "Marketing is a hard science."
She said it, at least in part, ironically. "Marketing? A science? Come on! What's next? Fishing?"
Marketing may not yet be a hard, or even soft, science. Nevertheless, scientists are indeed taking a hard look at marketing and beginning to paint a very interesting picture of how and why marketing actually works IN THE BRAIN.
James Intriligator is one such scientist. Having received his doctorate in psychology from Harvard for work on "attention," James did a stint as a consultant to the automotive industry, among others, before assuming a post in the Center for Neuroscience and Consumer Psychology at the University of Wales, Bangor.
I've known James for many years and decided to call him up when I wanted to get a handle this "neuromarketing" thing. He was kind enough to walk me through this emerging field as well as his own findings regarding brand loyalty (Hint: It kind of makes you act like a crazy person!), segmentation, and literally getting inside the customer's brain.
I invite you to listen in on our conversation. I think you'll find the discussion illuminating and, at times, even entertaining. (Where else will you hear people talk about "brand build-up," "brand flossing," and "brandectomies"?) I had a lot of questions for James and he had a lot of answers. For this reason, I've split the interview into two parts.
You can check out Part 1 right here by clicking on the Flash device below:
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You are also welcome to download an mp3 of this interview by "right-clicking" ("control-clicking," Mac-wise) on this link, or check out this and all other Talent Blog Podcasts on iTunes.
A few highlights of the interview can be found at the following time coordinates:
02:35 - How Brands Build Up in Brains
04:06 - Ways to Quantify Brand Loyalty
05:06 - Brand Loyalty, Brand Familiarity, and the Attentional Blink
06:45 - Dealing with Excess Brand Build-Up
08:13 - How to Forge a Robust Representation of the Brand (in the Brain)
10:27 - What Counts as an "Experience" in "Experiential Marketing"?
11:40 - Problems with Product Placement
13:23 - Brand Loyalty and Brain Damage
17:43 - A Brand Is the Net Sum of All Experiences You've Had with a Product/Company
19:22 - The Web as a Branding Medium
23:09 - Segmenting the Brand
26:09 - The One Rule that Fits All Branding and Marketing Activity
Image Courtesy of debaird.
I came across two things yesterday that reminded me how much people don't want to be sold to and how even biology helps us resist the impulses that marketers, advertisers, and sales-folk wish to unleash within us.
First, on my "iGoogle," I'm pushed a "How to of the Day" from wikiHow.com. Yesterday, one of the featured "How to's" was this: "How to Resist a Sales Pitch." The recommendations are wise and vary from "Buy Nothing" to "Know Sales Tactics," though the most interesting one to me was, "Avoid getting the sales pitch in the first place."
Now I realize that there is a difference between sales and marketing, but this is a strong reminder that people want to actively avoid your "messaging," one way or the other.
Secondly, thanks to the Experiential Marketing Forum, I received this article on neuro-marketing which highlights what they call a "Don't Buy" button in the brain. Turns out that, since avoiding sales pitches altogether is not always possible, nature has taken care of us by fitting out our brains with a mechanism in the dorsal fronto-medial cortex that puts the brakes on impulsive behavior. The scientists involved say that, while it might not be proof of "free will," it is proof of "free won't."
Lesson 1: Advertising and "impulse-inducing marketing," my phrase for "sales pitches," are viewed by the general public with suspicion and provoke conscious avoidance behaviors. Moreover, these sorts of tactics run smack up against hard-wired impulse controllers in the brain.
Lesson 2: There's got to be a way for us to influence and manipulate people to behave according to our wishes that they don't instinctively avoid. Any ideas?
Image courtesy of Gaetan Lee.
If you are a marketer with an eye to the future and you don't know who Erik Hauser is, you've got some catching up to do. Aside from serving as founder and creative director at Swivel Media, who introduced Wells Fargo to Second Life, Erik is also director of the International Experiential Marketing Association, and moderates the Experiential Marketing Forum, which he started up. As if that weren't enough, he additionally maintains a busy schedule of speaking engagements, writes a monthly column for Chief Marketer, and probably does a bunch of other stuff I don't even know about yet.
I got in touch with Erik because I was curious to find out if there was anything aspiring marketers should know about experiential marketing from a career perspective. During the course of our conversation, however, I realized that there was much more that they could learn from Erik's career itself.
"I just want to create. My whole life is a creation. I'm just a creator," he says.
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A semi-controversial memo from Starbuck's chairman Howard Schultz to Starbuck's CEO Jim Donald is circulating though the Internet's bustling tubes.
In said memo, Schultz outlines how business decisions - specifically, the replacement of traditional espresso machines with automatic ones and the move to flavor-locked packaging for coffee beans - while improving operational efficiency have degraded the consumer experience of Starbucks. As he points out, the new machines, while shortening the production time of individual beverages, has made it difficult for customers to observe the baristas at work and interact with them. Likewise, the new packaging, while ensuring the freshness of the roasted beans, has removed their pungent and evocative aroma from the store. The result is a generic purchasing experience which erodes brand loyalty and opens the door to competitors.
For those who are so inclined, you can visit John Moore's Brand Autopsy blog and submit ideas on what Starbucks can do to reconnect with its customers.
The rest of us can reflect on the critical role that marketers can play in assessing the implications and long-term impact of decisions that, at first blush, seem entirely operational in nature. In fact, this case seems to imply that separating operations from marketing is not only wrong conceptually, but in fact, misguided operationally.
