Archiv für den Monat September 2013

DO RESEARCH THE NSA WAY – LISTEN & OBSERVE.

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WERNER HEISENBERG – GREAT PHYSICIST, BRILLIANT RESEARCHER.

Sorry for the excurse. But I think it´s crucial to know why research in it´s most common form leads to failure and how we can implement a better method.

The third and newest layer of the human brain is the Cortex, the place where complex cognitive processes take place. Ratio instead of emotion. Complexity rules.

The human cortex has brought us great inventions from lightbulb to car. But it also has brought us the most redundant marketing campaigns. It has even killed brands and jobs. In large numbers.

Why? Because research forces people to give rational answers and explanations on things they can´t explain.

IS RESEARCH JUST A WASTE OF TIME?

No. It CAN make sense. Least to some extend.

Weigel just tells us to keep some simple rules in mind:

OBSERVE

Don´t rely on claimed behaviours. Understand those behaviours in their real world context

LISTEN

to real real conversations – not just to answers to your questions

DECODE

unpack the silent, implicit and often unconsciously consumed content of communications

INTROSPECT

you´re a human being, too!

Or, as Werner Heisenberg said:

“We have to remember that what we observe is not nature herself, but nature exposed to our methods of questioning”

 Research? Rethink!

THE REPTILIAN ALWAYS WINS!

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WHY BRANDS THAT DON´T WANT TO DIE OUT SHOULD LEARN FROM THOSE WHO DID.

Let´s come back to Rapailles approach and what we all can learn from it (better late than never…).

Rapaille believes that all purchasing decisions really lie beyond conscious thinking and reside at a primal core in human beings.

To Rapaille, the Reptilian brain “always wins”. Or, in other words: if a brand manages to touch people on the most fundamental level, it will have the biggest chance to grow and sell. The Reptilian brain is all about survival and reproduction.

And of all the related attributes. Like dominance. Those people who drive through the city in a monstrous HUMVEE just want to show dominance as a warrantor for survival. They just obey their reptilian brain.

But when the HUMVEE was launched in the US, it didn´t suceed at first.

They asked Rapaille for help. The frenchman told them to make the windows a few percent bigger. Why? Because if you go for dominance, you want to be seen and identified as the “sender” of that dominance. “Don´t mess with me!” Very reptilian. Very successful. Very international – because the reptilian brain is something we all have in common. From Russia to Rhodesia.

Then there is the Limbic System, the second oldest structure of the human brain.

It´s where all our emotions are located. The limbic system is developed during our early childhood and created & influenced by maternal love.

Our mother gives us an emotional imprint for each category. She defines what “love”, “care” or “home” mean to us. These emotional imprints vary from country to country.

Japanese have a different emotional code/imprint than Americans. Americans have a diifferent emotional code than Germans or French.

Example? Here you go: to Germans, the smell of fresh coffee means “home” and “childhood”. Because they smelled the coffee their mum cooked when they were lying in their cradles. The Germans got a “coffee imprint”.

The Japanese, however, don´t feel anything when they smell fresh coffee. Why?

Because they have a “tea imprint”. Which is why Nestlé had a hard time trying to sell coffee products in Japan. Until they asked Clotaire Rapaille…

–to be continued…!

RETHINK RESEARCH.

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Most advertisers believe in research. It´s a religion to them. Why? Because it delivers a bunch of good feelings. In the meantime, there are some brands who rather believe in what they believe in. Ideas. Potential. Opportunities.

Henry Ford didn´t produce faster horses now, did he?

Jobs and Wozniak didn´t do any research. After all, research suffers from the “re” in it. Research is only about what has been. Not what will be. And if there is any vision in research, it´s the vision of playing it safe. Which kills creativity. Which again kills a brand and the story behind it before it has been written. Safety is the illusion, failure is the result.

But there´s always two sides of a story, right? If we just condemn research (like I just did) we´ll hardly change anything. Not the brands we work for. Not the work we live for. Nothing. So let´s have a look at why research is still everybody advertiser´s darling and how we can end that phenomenon for the sake of beloved brands.

Martin Weigel, chief planner at W+K Amsterdam, names some of the myths we have to deal with.

 #1 RESEARCH ELIMINATES RISKS

Wrong. It can´t. The opposite will be the case. Colin Powell says why:

“Don´t take action if you only have a 40% chance of being right, but don´t wait until you have enough facts to be 100% sure, because by then it is almost always too late… Procrastination in the name of reducing risk actually increases risk.”

#2 RESEARCH IS REALITY

Research and reality have two things in common. The “R” and the “e”. Imagine the following situation: people are sitting in a badly air conditioned room, having bad coffee and old cookies. Everybody´s wearing a nameplate.

They are shown some ads with a burger and some french fries on it. Then they are shown a menu. With prices. Then they are asked what they would order at the drive-thru. Burgers? Nuggets? Fries? Salad? Shakes? What about the food photography?

Are the prices reasonable? Etcetera…

There´s just a few problems also caged in that badly air conditioned room:

- no one in there is hungry

- no one in there is in a hurry

- no one in there drives thru

Research is as real as the food shots on the ads are. At best.

#3 RESEARCH IS RELIABLE

Are you bonkers? It´s not. Clotaire Rapaille, a french psychiatrist and brand consultant tells us why. Actually he already told us more than 10 years ago.

But time moves slowly in adland, doesn´t it?