12 important takeaways from this talk:
To create great work you should be making up your own beliefs as you go along, changing them one day to the next, always pushing against the boundaries of current thinking, trying to escape the confines of conventional wisdom.
The research interview process does more than merely ignore critical components of why people behave as they do, it changes how and what they think.
Consumer.ology by Philip Graves
When we have strong positive emotions about a brand we seek supporting evidence and ignore contradictory facts.
7 unconscious errors we make when buying brands by Douglas Van Praet
Our rational mind is always looking for evidence to support our dominant beliefs…
the stronger the emotion, the stronger the belief, and the greater the tendency to seek out supporting evidence.
This confirmatory bias is why we often overlook the flaws of the ones we love, even if that loved one is a brand.
We focus our attention on the positive qualities of the brand while ignoring the deficiencies.
7 unconscious errors we make when buying brands by Douglas Van Praet
We draw conclusions based upon how the information is presented—not the actual information itself.
An ad for cream cheese that states 95% fat free is more likely to convince us than one that says it contains 5% fat.
The facts are identical but it is the positive spin not the concrete evidence that drives the appeal.
7 unconscious errors we make when buying brands by Douglas Van Praet
One of the great problems of (advertising) is how oblivious we are to our own prejudices and our own illogical behaviors.
We seem to be able to recognize it in everyone but ourselves.
Rather than simply stating the facts most advertisers typically embed their message into creative contextual devices that evoke feelings and bypass rational resistance.
This is why advertisers use stories, poems, slogans, songs, jokes, pictures, symbols, characters, roles, and metaphors.
They are particularly ripe marketing tools, because they lead the imagination and evoke the feelings that strike at our heart not our head.
7 unconscious errors we make when buying brands by Douglas Van Praet
Loss Aversion: we hate losing what we’ve got.
When we copy, we justify it. When others copy, we villify it.
Most of us have no problem with copying – as long as we’re the ones doing it.
The more we are exposed to a brand the more we like it.
The number one drive in human behavior and biology is homeostasis, or the seeking of the same stable, balanced, predictable state.
All consumers find a great deal of comfort and pleasure in what is known and familiar.
7 unconscious errors we make when buying brands by Douglas Van Praet
We make assumptions about the world around us based on sometimes incomplete or false information.
Start With Why by Simon Sinek
You can be conditioned through advertising to choose logically inferior options.
We can even become conditioned to find great pleasure in things that harm us.
7 unconscious errors we make when buying brands by Douglas Van Praet
Whether it is ‘two for one’ or ‘free toy inside,’ promotions are such common manipulations that we often forget that we’re being manipulated in the first place.
Start With Why by Simon Sinek
Advertising works by a process of Unconscious Behaviorism.
We are being conditioned by the media on a deep unconscious level and it is this implicit associative emotional conditioning that drives our brand preferences.
We make decisions by emotional association more so than rational analysis.
7 unconscious errors we make when buying brands by Douglas Van Praet
Creativity is an intellectual process, but it is also one driven by the heart.
‘What the heart knows today, the head will understand tomorrow.’
Asking a consumer about something overrides the natural state that thing occupies in his or her experience.
It’s very hard to preempt what people will find interesting or attention worthy – which makes it very risky to presume by asking them a question about it.
When research has put a focus on the issue it’s investigating that causes people to consider it in a way they otherwise wouldn’t, it has manufactured the response it gets.
Consumer.ology by Philip Graves
The conscious mind will leap to conclusions, forming a coherent narrative based upon partial information.
This strong tendency to draw conclusions from incomplete information is a cognitive rule called ‘what you see is all there is.’
Consistency and coherence, not quantity or quality of information, are the keys to forming opinions.
7 unconscious errors we make when buying brands by Douglas Van Praet citing Daniel Kahneman
People’s relationship with your brand affects their likelihood to notice communications from your brand.
The Participation Paradox by Martin Weigel
Recognizing the irrationality of our decisions can help us make more informed, sensible choices and save money.
7 unconscious errors we make when buying brands by Douglas Van Praet