Neurobranding: How neuroscience fuels brand success?

You may not realize this, but the success of a brand revolves around how much a company understands the brain. How do colors affect people's emotions? Will your choice of brand influencers impact how people perceive you? What positive words can help shape the brand in the minds of consumers?

The branding landscape has transformed with the emergence of advanced technology and modern branding tactics. Many brands are realizing that understanding how the brain influences emotions, behavior, and preferences can be powerful in revolutionizing innovative marketing campaigns that cut through the noise. This brings us to neurobranding.

Let's delve into the complex world of neuro-branding and discover how brands can leverage it to unlock exciting opportunities for creating more effective and engaging brand experiences.

Neurobranding can be an intimidating term, especially for those new to branding. But think of it as applying consumer neuroscience, art, and psychology to understand consumers' thinking and create effective branding strategies they'll love.

Neurobranding is not a new concept. Market researchers have used it to study consumer behavior since the early 2000s. As it evolved outside the marketing research field, one of the foundational concepts applied in neuro branding is Antonio Damasio's theory of emotions and how they drive consumer decision-making and branding strategies. Neurobranding has also taken an integral role in sowing and nurturing brand loyalty—a key component to lasting brand success.

Emotional connection

When a brand makes you happy or excited, you are more likely to patronize its products and services. But how can you make them feel these? That's where neurobranding comes in.

Through advanced brain technology and techniques, brands can determine elements that evoke positive emotions. This could be colors, specific images, sound, designs, etc. You can then shape your brand strategy to get the best emotional responses.

Memory and recognition

Neurobranding can also connect on a deeper level. For instance, it can help you create jingles or brand mascots that will be remembered when your audience ages.

Campbell Soup's "Oh-oh, Spaghetti-O" commercial in the 1970s is a good example. It was so catchy that the brand comes to mind whenever you hear it, even after so many years have passed. Moreover, other sensory experiences like superb packaging, promotional toys, and fun ads create memorable moments, too. 

Trust and consistency

When companies figure out how to tap into their consumers' brains through memorable and engaging elements, they can build trust by maintaining consistency. This means consumers know what to expect when they see a restaurant's food packaged in yellow. 

They already know the taste and smell even before they open the package. This strong connection makes people want to choose the brand again because they can trust the quality it delivers.

Rewards and dopamine

Similarly, knowing what your potential customers like means you can create or design rewards they can't resist. Think discounts, prizes, and membership benefits that can activate the dopamine receptors or the brain's pleasure center. Once this is activated, people are more likely to build positive emotional connections with your brand.

All these elements create a strong bond between consumers and the brand, leading to loyalty.

Emotion over logic

Humans are emotional creatures, so it's unsurprising that most decisions are emotion-driven. And with neuro branding, you can tap into this principle and effectively appeal to emotions.

One example is Coca-Cola, which highlights togetherness and happiness across all its marketing campaigns. When we see a can of Coke, we remember the fun moments with friends and other people dear to us, making us want to buy their drink. With neurobranding, you can make people feel special whenever they engage with your brand.

Storytelling

Brand identity bleeds into consumers' identities. When they choose their clothes, they indirectly represent the brands as part of their self-expression.

Storytelling in neurobranding plays a crucial role in establishing and deepening this relationship. It gleans on what provokes reactions and uses them to sow strong emotions within people's minds and hearts. This shapes their perception, eventually influencing their purchase decisions. Suddenly, brands are seen as family. Suddenly, they embody the identity consumers aspire to have. The brand-consumer relationship goes beyond a transactional one. 

Sensory appeal

Ads are not merely marketing materials that convince users to buy a product or a service. Neuro branding combines elements that appeal to our senses—sight, touch, taste, sound, and smell.

It's no coincidence that McDonald's and KFC have distinct smells. Or how Toblerone has set itself apart from other chocolate brands through its triangular product design and packaging. These elements become embedded in consumers' minds, triggering positive responses and brand recall.

Did you know neuromarketing leverages machines and brain doctors' tools to predict consumer behaviors? Below are some of the biometric sensors that help measure brain activities in addition to traditional marketing methods like surveys and focus groups.

Eye-tracking heat map

An eye-tracking heat map is a tool for determining where people are looking at. It involves using a camera that tracks eye movements to discover what visual elements of an ad and other marketing campaigns catch a person's attention. 

For example, suppose a person is shown a digital ad on social media. In that case, eye-tracking can evaluate which parts of the ad people look at the most. If they look at a logo longer, they will remember it better.

This neuromarketing tool can be used on websites to track which buttons or images people are drawn to. Another example is its use in stores where participants are made to wear eye-tracking glasses as they scan through the shelves and see if they look at or ignore the targeted products.  

EEG (electroencephalography)

An EEG, or electroencephalography, uses electrical brain waves to measure brain activity. Doctors often use it on patients with sleep disorders, seizures, and other brain disorders.

In branding, an EEG is great for tracking neural activity when exposed to an ad. This is one of the most favored neuromarketing tools because it reveals real-time data on how people react rather than just asking them what they think. 

It can dissect patterns and determine which elements elicited strong responses like excitement or interest. If a particular ad results in a positive brain reaction, it can be used more often to connect effectively with consumers. 

fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) primarily scans the brain based on blood flow and physiological responses. A more active brain uses up more oxygen, increasing blood flow. It also determines the activities of each part of the brain.

Applied in neuromarketing, fMRI can help brands understand what makes people react strongly. Picture a person watching a TV commercial while hooked on an fMRI. As the TV ad progresses, different parts of the brain—the ventral striatum, the prefrontal cortex, and the nucleus accumbens— will light up. This can help you get ideas on which part of the ad excites people.

An fMRI can also test various designs, such as logos and product packaging. Companies have used fMRIs in neuromarketing to determine which flavors make people happiest, too!

Facial coding

Facial coding is all about facial expressions. This technique detects micro-expressions, which are quick changes in our faces that show true feelings as people view ads and other branding and marketing efforts. 

Facial coding is preferred over other neuromarketing tools because it is non-invasive. In combination with other tools like AI, it also captures real-time reactions, providing more honest insights. 

Galvanic skin response

Did you know that your skin, specifically your sweat glands, reveals a person's emotions? And the smell your skin emits can affect those around you, like when you're fearful.

A Galvanic Skin Response analyzes how your skin responds as you react. Special sensors measure electrical conductivity when emotions change. If it goes up while a person is watching a commercial, then it means they are emotionally engaged. 

Implicit association test

Now, let's go deeper into neuroscience research and how people feel than what machines can tell us.

An effective neuromarketing tool is the Implicit Association Test (IAT), which examines biases. It entails asking respondents to sort words and create associations between them. For example, if you see the words "happy" and "unicorn" together, you might relate them to something positive.

If applied to neurobranding, you can determine whether people associate you with positive thoughts and words. For example, a pizza brand may use an IAT to test if people associate their brand with togetherness or health. These strong connections can then optimize your advertising and highlight positive associations. 

The Pepsi challenge 

The Pepsi challenge is a blind taste test that asks people to drink Pepsi and Coca-Cola without knowing which. They experimented in the United States, sparking intrigue from people.

At the end of the test, many of the respondents chose Pepsi. But why?

Pepsi's flavor profile is generally sweeter than Coca-Cola's. Sweetness is often connected with happy moments, like a child enjoying a lollipop at the park. This has evoked joy among the respondents. The sensory experience bypassed rational thinking, directly influencing the minds of consumers.

It was a stroke of genius that left Coca-Cola shocked. In response, it changed its formulation, angered consumers who demanded that it be changed back. 

Because of its success, the campaign is making a comeback!

IKEA: The wonderful everyday

IKEA understands how powerful emotions are in creating a unique brand experience that resonates with consumers. It has launched The Wonderful Everyday campaign highlighting how IKEA products make a big difference in people's daily lives. Capturing real-life moments like breakfast with the family shows how IKEA helps create homes that make people happy.

The campaign emphasized simplicity, fun, and functionality, using vibrant colors and a light brand tone. It shared stories demonstrating how people can create extraordinary places without a price tag. 

Burger King: moldy whopper 

Burger King recognized the shift in the market, with many people becoming health conscious. Wanting to meet the changing demands, Burger King showed a Whopper burger slowly rotting over 34 days.

Disgusting, sure! However, it effectively proved that the product is made from healthy ingredients. After the initial "eww!" reaction, the brain connects Burger King with fresh, natural food, which is good! It also made the brand memorable.

Beyond creating a buzz, Burger King has proven its commitment to transparency and care for their consumers. 

Heineken: worlds apart

The world is divided by different thoughts, beliefs, and backgrounds, leading to conflicts. Challenging this phenomenon, Heineken, a brand that embodies togetherness as its primary value, conducted a social experiment. People with opposing beliefs were partnered together as they worked through several challenges.

The campaign hinged on emotional storytelling, sharing relatable narratives that made people curious about how the campaign would progress. In the end, the participants realized how different they were. Heineken then gave them a choice to walk away or talk about their differences while enjoying a beer.

The Worlds Apart campaign challenged something bigger than beer. It made people aware of their diversity and how they treat each other based on differing beliefs. With neuro branding, Heineken created an emotional, surprising, and positive ad. 

Manipulation of consumer behavior

Neurobranding can influence consumer responses to products. While this can benefit companies, it also opens up the risk of manipulation, which can be iffy if the company does not mind violating ethics.

Say you are presented with three wines on the shelf. The same ingredients and taste are the exact wine, but the pricing only varies. Upon tasting the wines, you somehow prefer the wine with the highest price. This is because we often associate higher prices with higher quality.

Companies can use data to trick people into thinking they like something by changing how they present their products. If a brand makes you feel good and excited, you may also be inclined to buy it even if you don't need it. 

Invasion of privacy

Asking people to gather data related to their brains can sound iffy for many. That said, some companies deliberately choose not to inform their subjects. Special tools can be embedded to scan the brain while people look at ads or products. These can then be used to improve their products or trade your data.

With these risks, brands must follow ethical guidelines proposed by neuromarketing organizations. Regulatory frameworks should also be in place, which can be implemented by a government body like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Finally, companies must participate in ongoing discussions to ensure compliance and adapt to emerging privacy concerns. 

Nowadays, people are becoming highly conscious of the brands they support. They want to buy from businesses that offer good quality products, services, and brands to which they can relate. This has led to the rise of personalized brand experiences, and neuro branding has been a vital component in delivering these.

With new approaches and technologies, the future of neuro-branding is becoming more accessible! Brands are afforded several tools to help them understand their target market's thoughts by connecting them to their brains. However, companies must maintain ethical practices without needing to trick their consumers.

Leverage the power of neuro branding to tap your business's full potential. Let a trusted branding firm guide you through your journey to success.