Nowadays marketing is a constant factor in the daily life of the human being since wherever you are or wherever you turn there is something that is trying to sell you something. How does this persuade us to buy? As the years have passed, marketing, its strategies and its ways of selling have evolved and changed according to the needs of the world. This evolution has been possible through the psychological study of the human being in order to sell more of its product, which refers to consumer psychology. Currently this study is called "neuromarketing".
The use of neuromarketing has increased day by day and more and more they use it to reach other people in a precise way, it is the study of the brain's relationship with the reactions it has to the direct or indirect application of marketing. That is, it is the study of how the human being reacts to advertising and other forms of communication of various brands or individuals, which serves to understand the brain of the human being, improve marketing strategies and also to help the being as an individual to persuade other people to get them to do or think what others want.
Neuromarketing studies are used directly through billboards, advertisements and commercials where whoever sees them is aware of what they are wanting to sell or indirectly where the client is not aware of how they are being persuaded by the strategy to consume any product. As the years have passed, more brands and stores have implemented these strategies that are derived from neuromarketing so that they can boost their sales and attract more consumers, making consumers believe that what they are taking or going to buy is the best option that exists.
There are many moral and physical people who use this study and this tool for evil. How is it that the application of this study can make people act negatively? Most people think that as human beings we dominate our brain and that we are aware of everything that happens around us, however this is not the case since 95% of what we think and how we act even without having at all of course what we are thinking and feeling comes from our unconscious. In this way, if neuromarketing is used for the wrong or without knowing what is really being raised to the public, it can be counterproductive with the company, with other human beings and with the same person who is interpreting it.
In the world there is controversy over this specific issue since many people consider that neuromarketing is a way of manipulating others in a selfish way to achieve their own goal, however, there is a counterpart to this position, which are those who claim that This helps in an important way in our world to understand and know how to reach the human brain to achieve a better world. There are various people, companies and brands that seek through neuromarketing to reach their audience in an emotional way to cause a positive change in the world. If there are brands that seek to make a better world, what are they and how do they apply it to their marketing?
This discipline can sometimes be confused with psychology because they go very hand in hand, however, it is not fully developed and studied. However, today more people, scientists, marketers and psychologists work together to understand it more and to come up with various theories and hypotheses about how the human brain works and reacts to marketing, as well as what can be applied in other subjects obtaining with this, research publications and books by recognized authors.
According to the digital magazine specialized in marketing, Merca 2.0, neuromarketing "studies our brain activities, our heart and breathing rates, and other types of emotional responses to know our preferences as consumers and to be able to predict our consumption patterns." (Merca 2.0, 2014) With the previous definition, you can make your own and specific definition of this topic: neuromarketing is the way in which our brain reacts and is directly related to the advertising that we have around us to achieve patterns of consumption.
This topic is nothing more than a very broad field of study in which we can get to know each other better and yet many people interpret it as manipulation. The definition of manipulation according to the RAE is “to intervene with skillful and sometimes devious means, in politics, in the market, in information, etc., with distortion of truth or justice, and at the service of particular interests ”, Already with the proposed definition and based on it, we can see that what marketing in conjunction with neuromarketing does is not manipulate, it simply sells you a product highlighting the characteristics that will give you satisfaction or well-being and arriving directly to your emotions and it is thanks to this that makes people want to consume the product.
This study applied in direct advertising of products involves different characteristics such as:
- The price (quantity and size) The image (whether it is nice or not) The colors (attractive, sentimental connection)
For example, when you go on the street and see an advertisement for a hamburger and it seems to you, all of the above influences it. To make this announcement, a team of marketers with the help of neuromarketing establish: the size and location of the price (that is not so big and flashy), the attractive image of a hamburger (that looks appetizing and striking) and the color (related with the colors of the brand or to provoke something in the public) that will be seen in the ad. Thanks to previous studies, they can determine what is best for them to use for their advertising and which is also effective, that is, attracts more consumers.
Burger King ad example: color, price, image.
. It also studies the following aspects of the human brain:
- Attention (how much attention they pay to the ad) Emotion (what it provokes in people) Memory (if they remember it in the long or short term) Intent (if it provokes the impulse to buy the product)
Continuing with the same example of the hamburger ad, probably or what should be done with the psychological studies of the consumer before launching your ad, the group of marketers should do tests with people so that they see your ad and determine by means of observation and study such as: if they craved the hamburger, if after a while they remember it, how much attention they paid to it and if this ad would convince them to buy a hamburger soon. With the previous characteristics and the example, it is how neuromarketing studies are applied to a real situation.
A company called Nielsen, specialized in studying consumers from more than 100 countries to study and establish habits and trends in the world, lists different types of cutting-edge technology to study this discipline and with this come to understand in a better way and with more precision to the brain like (Nielsen):
- Electroencephalogram (EEG) Biometry (heart rate and skin conductance) Facial coding Implicit association assessment Eye follow-up Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) Self-assessment
When talking about this topic, we find brands that want to provoke added value by involving feelings and not just that only people consume a product, for example the soft drink brand “Coca Cola”. This successful brand was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1891 thanks to its creator John S. Pemberton who, wanting to make a syrup for digestion and that at the same time provide energy, created the # 1 soft drink in the world. Today Coca Cola is the soft drink leader not only because of its taste, but also because of the marketing strategies they implement every day; part of their strategies is to share the experience of working for or in collaboration with the brand from the person who delivers the soft drink to the hands of the consumer, even the president of the company.
Coca Cola focuses its marketing content in order to touch the sentimental fibers, inspiring and empathizing with the people who see its ads. One of his main techniques is the "approach" he has with his audience, since everything he does he personalizes for each client, making them feel unique and special for the brand. The main feeling that Coca Cola wants to share and that it manages to do in many different ways is: happiness. Unconsciously, people are persuaded by the brand to consume the product by solving the thirst they may have and leaving them a good satisfaction by obtaining what caused them happiness at a given moment.
The communication of the brand with its public is a constant invitation to share moments of happiness every day with known and unknown people, thus achieving the fourth most valued brand in the world. They have exploited this feeling so much to empathize with people that people already associate happiness with the brand, as we can see directly in their slogan "Uncover happiness with those you love the most." Much of his success has been achieved thanks to the neuroscientific study in the field of marketing that he practices before publishing or launching an advertising campaign.
We verify that Coca Cola is on the right track when comparing its marketing strategies with the World Happiness Report 2015 research prepared by a group of independent experts, who determined that being generous, empathy and connections with other people are essential for our emotional state and individual happiness. Thus reaching the conclusion that by promoting this type of action, Coca Cola encourages the human being to be happy by sharing it with other people and making others happy and that it has really achieved it over the years until today.
The marketing of this soft drink goes hand in hand with what Eduardo Punset says in his book, El viaje a la vida, where Punset states in a few words on the back cover that “the best way to achieve happiness will be by doing happy to others ”and throughout his book he states that by cooperating together as a society we will be able to evolve and improve as a race. It is with this same relationship that Coca Cola encourages people to work and act in the world as mentioned by Punset in his book.
Coca Cola advertisement "Make
Someone Happy ".
The mission of the Coca Cola company is as follows:
“Refresh the world in body, mind and spirit. Inspire moments of optimism through our brands and actions, to create value and leave our mark in each of the places where we operate. " Something that is to be recognized is that the idea that most people have about this company fully fits with the words described in said mission since they have been in charge from the beginning to make clear what the intention of their product is and Using different tools, as well as advertising campaigns, they have created, increased and reinforced the idea that the consumer has about the brand. Thanks to Coca Cola following its mission as a company, it has been able to create that connection with people, making it the number one brand in the world.
If there is something that will not change, it is the rivalry between the two leading soft drink brands in the world and what is known is that most people prefer to consume Coca Cola, but what happens when the same person tries both without seeing the brand? Over time there have been different experiments where Coca Cola and Pepsi have been put to the test through neuromarketing. The first experiment was carried out in 1975 by Pepsi executives themselves and consisted of setting up stands inside supermarkets in different countries and giving them a glass of Coca Cola and another of Pepsi to try, without the consumer's knowledge..
Through the magazine Puro Marketing, we were informed that in 2011 the same experiment was applied but with a new variable: the use of Magnetic Resonance sensors. The results were controversial since when tasting the two soft drinks, the taste zone showed greater stimulation when consuming Pepsi, but once the consumer saw the Coca Cola brand, the memory zone showed greater stimulus than its competition because There is a relationship of use over time in which Coca Cola consumers link the brand with the previously mentioned emotions. The reactions that people had were thanks to what Coca Cola has provoked in them, creating with this a loyalty towards their 100% true product.
There are many other companies that use neuromarketing to study patterns and learn more about their consumers, for example Microsoft, Google, FritoLay, The Weather Channel, among others, who specialize in their consumers. With all the data from all these companies and even from Coca Cola, scientists and researchers can determine with greater specification how the human brain behaves in different situations.
Approaching the customer in a personalized way is something that Coca Cola does and that many brands are not able to achieve even though they want to. A clear example of this is when in 2014 Coca Cola launched the campaign in Mexico of "Share a Coca Cola with…", in this campaign in the cans or on the labels of the bottles of the product came a name of a person (they counted with a wide catalog of names), which made the consumer feel special since when they found their name or that of someone very close, they immediately wanted to buy the product to have it as a souvenir. This campaign revolutionized not only Mexico, but the world in an impressive way and increased its sales considerably. This is how Coca Cola has made it clear that the use of neuromarketing is not a bad thing, on the contrary, there is benefit from both sides,They make a connection of empathy and happiness to people and people "pay" them by consuming their products.
Campaign "Share a Coca Cola".
Two characteristics that have currently helped the study of neuromarketing a lot are the internet and social networks, since through these many brands can know directly and personally how the consumer feels about their product and also to spread the advertising campaigns through around the world without lifting a single finger and just letting consumers do the work so that the brand can be recognized. This is how Coca Cola has made many efficient campaigns promoting happiness and social well-being, achieving success through social networks with the acceptance of its public in a correct and continuously participatory way.
Another factor that this brand uses for its marketing is the strength of the family, many of the advertisements that Coca Cola has are referring to the importance of family unity and the relationships they have with people who, despite not being being family by blood, they are family by choice such as: friends and girlfriend. With this you can reach viewers and reflect what they are seeing in commercials with your life and create an even stronger emotional impact than many brands fail to do with their viewers. The use of neuromarketing in this type of commercial is evident, since they seek to reach their audience through everyday life situations to sympathize with them, this is information that the unconscious receives and stores it in the brain giving it a high relevance for what it made him feel.
We can realize that the correct use of neuromarketing is of great help for those who apply it and for those who are receiving it, however, care must be taken with how we use it or if by using it we are giving the wrong message to what we want to give to understand. If you have a company or you work for one and you want to know how to replicate the good results that happen, it is very important to learn to recognize a good use of neuromarketing since if it is good enough we will be able to imitate, continue innovating and creating new ideas going the same way so that the company in which we are bears fruit in the way we seek.
Further developing the subject of consumer psychology is extremely relevant since it will not only bring benefit to those who apply it, but also to our daily life and without reaching the degree of manipulation, use it to convert ourselves and help others to convert to create a better world. Taking the great Coca Cola company as an example is key for individuals or corporations who want to progress and reach other people in a different way than everyone else does, in order to cause a change. As Coca Cola applies, not stop innovating and thinking of new ideas to be able to add a plus to the articles and ideas that we want to sell to empathize with people and create a close bond with them.
As previously mentioned, Coca Cola is one of the largest companies in the world and this level was only reached due to the effort, dedication, patience, learning from mistakes but above all with the passage of time of its founders, employees, and not least, of its consumers. Daring to make a statement about what will happen to this monster of the soda industry is a bit risky and uncertain. As the years go by, different situations may occur that involve the company, however, in the immediate future we consider that if the company continues what it has done until today, it will continue to grow, becoming stronger and increasing its market.
Despite the fact that many studies predict that the future of the soft drink industries will decline, we believe that this will be reflected in the long-term future when technology evolves sufficiently to develop a product that is less harmful to health and replaces to soft drinks. However, in the short-term future we do not see the decline of the soft drink industry and in particular of the Coca Cola brand, since it has been in existence for more than 100 years and evolving in a positive way all over the world not only because of its marketing, but for the taste. So many people are determined that it quenches thirst and provides energy.
The future for neuromarketing is very promising as this study makes it easier for other people to understand the human being and to develop more theories and hypotheses about our behavior and our physical and brain reactions. Also, as technology advances, perhaps a device can be developed that helps and facilitates the human being to enter his brain and discover and understand many things that today we cannot define with certainty. On the other hand, in the field of more companies applying this study in their marketing strategies, it is growing day by day trying to carry out an efficient campaign that increases consumers in order to grow.
Speaking in the field of Coca Cola, the most viable proposal we reached is that the best that this company can do is to continue innovating and generating more creative ideas without losing the essence that it has been managing for more than a decade; sharing happiness with whoever. Thanks to its high demand and the large number of consumers around the world, Coca Cola poses a semblance of tranquility in terms of a short future. Due to its high number of consumers, we consider that the main focus is to reinforce trust with its current consumers because since it already covers much of the world, it is unlikely to generate new customers that reflect significant changes for the company; however, if it is generate new customers in the process of implementing new strategies to reinforce the frequent user,it is profit for Coca Cola. A point to highlight is the damage that your product can cause to health if it is consumed, so they need to look for points where they can improve it so that it does not affect health and also improve the image of the product.
On the other hand, we conclude that neuromarketing needs to be fully developed and used effectively by more companies. The above would be achieved through a program that guides and teaches step by step companies that need it and need to apply neuromarketing since there is currently very little knowledge of it and probably because of this, companies cannot progress, increase and get closer to your customers in an effective way. This proposed program would give companies a guide to everything they need to know about neuromarketing to apply it in their marketing strategies and also be a consultant to test and approve the advertising proposals raised by the company so that they can be released to the public.
With the previously proposed proposals, we consider that they would generate an important change both in the Coca Cola company and in the discipline of neuromarketing in general, improving not only one company but many others to stabilize and activate other competencies, develop more skills and areas of opportunity in which they can work to improve to continue growing. Thanks to neuromarketing is how many companies have advanced, without neglecting the product or service they offer, this study is an extra benefit that helps any company to grow if it is used correctly for a specific objective.
References:
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