Final Dissertation Project for the MA course. Research methods for unconscious consumers drivers. Metacognitive error and Neuroscience as the required research tools on consumer research.

1. Advertising; Planning for the Unconscious Mind.
Applying Neuroscience?
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Marc Sanz Arquero
MA Advertising
October 2011

2. Faculty of Design, Media and Management
MA Advertising. Bucks New University
Research on the new Unconscious drivers of consumers.
Are Neuroscience techniques improving the effectiveness on commercial communications?
Marc Sanz Arquero - 21104200
Kate McIntyre
3rd October 2011
11,229.

3. # CONTENTS
Introduction
1. Welcome to advertising…………………………………………………………………..2
1.1. Qualitative and Quantitative research………………………………………………5
2. 2011 marketsʼ……………………………………………………………………….……..7
3. A bit of light: Science……………………………………………………………………...9
3.1. The Unconscious Brain………………………………………………………………11
4. Neuroscience……………………………………………………………………………...13
4.1. Neuromarketing techniques………………………………………………………….16
4.2. Case Studies…………………………………………………………………………..19
5. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………….21
References…………………………………………………………………………………22
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………22
Webography…………………………………………………………………………...24
Picture Credits…………………………………………………………………………25

4. INTRODUCTION
After more than 4 years of commercial experience, finishing a Degree in one of the most creative Universities in Barcelona, after finishing my MA in London. I
believe that advertising is a synonym for Creativity. But for the same reasons, I know that a TV commercial or the coolest viral ever are just a 15% of the job, in other
words people only see the execution, the final piece, creativity. There is no good or bad creativity. It depends on the way it is addressed and how has been edited all
along the process. However its aim is still the same, effectiveness and coherency with the Brandʼs objectives.
Advertising is about people, at the same time is a mirror where to look and see the society. To talk about advertising we have to be aware of what is going on
around us. In that way, advertising has always tried to know better about behaviours in order to increase its value and at last itʼs effectiveness.
We are reaching high levels of complexity; the world is suffering a massive fragmentation. Thousand of companies shout loudly in the market place in order to
grab our attention… How? Researching about us, looking into our thoughts and opinions, creating new ways to build relations with the costumers. Using Behavioural
Economics, Social psychology, anthropology, and science – over the last 30 years- is a daily requirement for those whose job is to clarify a bit that mess by researching
in order to find the best way of increasing accuracy.
The fight for a place in the market has become rough. After decades of expansion and investment, seems that we should change and upgrade the way we look at
things – from a research point of view- adding a new dimension to our market and consumer research tools. Neuromarketing arises as a key approach to truly and
completely understanding the thoughts, feeling, motivations, needs, and desires of consumers. But is Neuromarketing meant to be an improvement on the efficacy of
advertising communications? To answer that question we should ask other questions first to help us understand how have we got here.
We will look into the 2011 market to see saturation that might lead the discussion to another level; a neuroscientist level. We will take a look at how Science and
Neuroscience see advertising through its techniques comparing results and increasing the utility of the rest of market research tools. I will try to explain with detail how
does it works and which kind of data can we expect from it. And if it really improves what do we have currently.
I will expose my experiences all along my research and my professional and academic career, consulting at some of the most eminent experts from inside the
market research and experts on consumer behaviour. Also I count with the support of some professionals form inside the industry – mainly planners due to their functions
in research and in creativity -, and insights and opinions from colleagues, lecturers and friends. All of them helped me to build this document in order to investigate about
a hot topic on the advertising industry.
So, Is Neuromarketing improving effectiveness in commercial communications?
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5. 1. WELCOME TO ADVERTISING.
Advertising has a very broad definition that can be found in uncountable resources. During this chapter I will try to explain and clarify deeper what and how the
advertising industry works; the secrets that involve a daily fight in terms of creative efficacy. All the information you will read below in this chapter is a result of more than
4 years of commercial experience all along different channels and communication industries, which allows me to know what I can talk about. I will try to explain that
advertising is a dynamic gym for our minds and that sometimes ideas and insights depend directly from our brain, therefore a deeper knowledge of our brains I useful.
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience (viewers, readers or listeners) to take some action with respect to new products, current
products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behaviour towards consuming a commercial offering, although political and
ideological advertising is also common. Advertising messages are usually paid for sponsors and viewed via various traditional media; including mass media such
as newspaper, magazines, television commercial, radio, outdoor advertising, direct mail or new media such websites, apps for smart phones or games.
Advertisers and marketers often seek to generate increased consumption of their products and services through Branding, which involves the repetition of an
image or product name in an effort to link certain qualities with the brand in the consumersʼ minds. Engaging brains and hearts through rational and emotional benefits.
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When I was working in the creative agency MR. John Sample*… one story was quite similar once a month. At 9 am people started coming into the office and
one hour later was officially busy. Then a sort of feeling started growing in my head… something was going on, and apparently nobody knew anything but everybody was
waiting for it. I remember that during the entire buzz, I filled my coffee again and tried to speak with Lorena and Carles, one of the creative teams I used to work with in
order to take something clear… During that stage of my life I was still struggling to find my path inside the industry (which years later ended been Planning and Strategy).
Quoting Anthony Tasgal who has taught me everything about planning during these yearʼs MA - “As a strategist you kind of know everybody, but everybody is scared of
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you because you are a planner. And planners are really sharp and dynamic brains. ” A. Tasgal sustained an approach about planning which points on its function of
ʻbridgeʼ between the Account and logical people and the Creative ones.
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You need to marry with your job, or in other words, your job and your life are literally combined. “Work in an industry like that is proof of devotion” . You have
chosen that because you are a brain-builder – a brain gym addict.- You wouldnʼt be happy working in a different field. You work in advertising because usually you like to
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Internship as Account Executive during my Advertising and Public Relation degree in Barcelona. February 2008 – June 2008.
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Anthony Tasgal. Freelance Planner and Lecturer at Buckinghamshire New University in the MA Advertising course of Creative Planning . March 2011 – April 2011.
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Montse Jodar, Brand Manager at PepsiCo Iberia, Walkers. Work experience as Marketing Assistant : December 2009 – May 2010. Interview on May 11 .!
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6. exercise your brain, is dynamic and makes you feel good. Also, quoting Samuel Payne “Because at the end of the day, our aim is still the same; bring more richness to
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people lifeʼs.”
I always thought that hyperactive and curious people usually work in advertising, because it makes sense, and you would need probably one of these attitudes.
One day you work for BMW, the following week probably a milk brand and some snack bars. By then I was working for Gettyimages, Ikea, combined with the launch of a
new skiing resort in the Pyrenees. I learned about cars, - working for BMW and Mini – insurance services – RAC -, and snacks in just one week. You have to like that and
you have to be awake and see what happens around you. “Because advertising is not abstract at all, is real as our life is, because we are consumers too. Is the craziest
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and the most creative industry in the world.”
I remember that Lorena mentioned something about a new exciting and enormous client, which was coming to the agency to have a chat with Robert, the Client
Services Director. One thing of those happens once in a decade. The meeting involved a large massive marketing department full of intelligent people wearing nice suits.
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During the meeting those guys said all the clever and interesting things. The only guy who spoke from inside the agency was Borja Orozco, my boss and our boss. Who
said solemnly key things to guide the team... It was the first time I though that the creative industry was more than creativity and industry in terms of different clients. Few
hours later, Blanca, the account supervisor, came to me with a new project related to this big client… God…
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Itʼs done. From now onwards you will have to add a new hour in your daily tasks to work on Doritos a global business over 5 billion dollars year.
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ʻClose the door behind you because we are trying to work in here.ʼ That was the most used sentence during my creative experience working with Doritos. We
started a partnership between both companies, which they still keep. I did some market research based on the tips and guides from my supervisor. I remember
discussing with the client in one of those large tables full of papers, data, research and expensive stuffs, Blanca and Robert (account supervisor and client services
director) exposed our arguments in front of the client to summarize what their business problem was, and what did they ask us to do. The first brief was completed. And
the briefing session was over.
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Samuel Payne, planner at Mother London – creative agency- . Interviewed on 15 of July.
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Mauro Rodriguez, creative and conceptist at StartCreative London. Interviewed 13 of June.
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Borja Orozco, Creative Director at Mr. John Sample*… and Vicepresident at SCPF. Internship: Account Executive during February 2008 – June 2008. Interviewed on 10 of August.
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According to the PepsiCo Annual Report dated on 2009. http://www.pepsico.com/Investors/Annual-Reports.html
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Borja Orozco, Creative Director at Mr. John Sample*… and Vicepresident at SCPF.. February 2008 – June 2008. Interviewed on 10 of August.!
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7. Once the brief was completed with the objectives, the task, and result expected, Robert and Blanca followed the process form the outside, keeping in touch with
the client at all times. The second stage started. The Strategy time came and my team was the one who had to start building something tangible. To begin with we started
with many and many hours of research to interrogate the product, to find out what consumers were thinking when they bought it – product, market, target -.
Luckily at this point, we gained some insights in what really the product was about. We spotted a market trend based on a new consuming time and a new
growing primary target based on High School students.
After the research, Blanca, Robert, Mya (research supervisor) and Borja wrote a document called ʻCreative Briefʼ which was and still is a processed version of the
first Brief delivered by the client during the first Briefing meeting. With this new developed brief the creative team jumped into the field to play according to the instructions
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given by the rest of team in order to reach the objectives and push one single simple though .
There are almost as many agencies in the world as templates to build a proper Creative Brief. But honestly each Creative Brief has to be different so the clients
and needs are. This document has to be clear pushing one concept to follow but not too narrow, otherwise wouldnʼt be a place for creativity.
After this piece, the team tried to work together in order to provide insights, ideas, and different solutions for the same problem, by using different approaches
based on the workers experience knowledge, inspiration and creativity. The entire project was communicated with the client and they must approve the outputs, which
opens a new topic. Effectiveness. This has been the proper point of balance from these two sides of advertising. “Effectiveness is what the client wants and is the
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agencyʼs main aim.” The result hopefully would be a good campaign created to solve some particular business problem, adding an extra value in form of useful content,
engagement, entertainment and creating an emotional connexion between the consumer and the brand. After all, people just see the TV commercial, the poster, or
maybe the website and the radio ad, but like a house, the process is long and requires a lot of different experts and effort to make it real. People will just see a 15% of the
real process.
Despite that fact, agencies and workers used to be on the move constantly, as Elizabeth Zea partner at Juel Consulting based in New York said: “Our industry is
in the midst of breaking down old connections and establishing new ones. A pessimist would say that, as an industry, we lack commitment," …"Agencies aren't investing
in their people, and as a result, employees are on the move. An optimist would argue that we are in the midst of an evolution and to evolve as a species, we need to
introduce new ideas, new genes, new ways of working and that the fraying of relationships is a natural course of our evolution. We need to break down old relationships
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Similar to the core principle of some agencies in London, for instance M&C Saatchi and their Brutal Simplicity.
http://www.mcsaatchi.com/#/global/approach/brutalsimplicity/coreprinciple.aspx. 13th February 2011.
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According to Jordi Rosas, President and Head of Planning at Villarosás, one of the main creative agencies in Spain. Interviewed maintained during the 24 of August 2011.
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8. 11
in order to build new ones." So quality in the work released by the agency is not a guarantee of future relationships with Clients. I will go deeper on that during the 2nd
chapter: 2011 – Marketsʼ .
For instance: Mother is an international award-winning agency based in New York, Buenos Aires and London. It is considered as a liquid agency from a new
generation of agencies whose work stands out from the rest beyond the traditional work of an agency. Besides, there are no strong roles and positions; everybody does a
bit of everything on a logical and good way of doing things. Mother relies on culture and tries to approach every single Brief from a social and human point of view
creating a great buzz among consumers. As S. Payne mentioned during our interviewed last July, “we are a special agency, experts in solving clientʼs needs from a
different, singular and strong approach which will last for long time.” Despite Motherʼs efforts of building communication plans and campaigns aimed to be credible and
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useful in years time, they keep their essence as liquid agency by trying to introduce new ideas, new genes and new ways of working. “Usually we work with clients for a
period shorter than 5 years “
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Craig Adams – planner from Naked – said: “we are working with irrational and rational division with our target research, it came from a scientific background”
that means that somebody came up with that division years ago in the name of a new discipline –
consumer psychology – and 20 years later agencies have adapted some meanings and features from it
into their business. “The same happened with psychology analytics and behaviour economics.” And
now seems that if you donʼt know about these techniques you are old fashioned already.
I feel accurate to include a visual evidence of how liquid an agency work process can be. This
diagram has been taken from a Swedish creative agency really innovative and relevant due to their
constant content generation about the operational advertising inside the agency – how departments
work and mixed with each other during a single project – al along the stages.
Fig 1.- This is a diagram showing the work process of an integrated creative agency, The Planning Lab.
Focused mainly on operating systems inside the Planning process. Account department, creation department –
creativity and production-, planning department, new business department – new techs, new opportunities-, and
cultural attributes.
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http://adage.com/article/agency-news/long-term-ad-agency-client-bonds-a-rarity/148787/!
11 th 2011.
Article from AdAge.com magazine dated from Fabruary 14
12 th
Full day workshop at Mother. MA Advertising course 25 of July.
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Interview maintained on the 5 of September 2011 at Naked.
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9. The complexity of the market has brought fragmentation in the agencies, implementing more flexible structures. The first stage is key for the whole process of
making the campaign, where all the departments will give their point of view. Listening to all the opinions in order to spot news and shocking ways of thinking differently
towards the objectives. The second level would be the content stage where we will bring solutions and concepts to the task. During the last stage the campaign will gain
shape and figure and everything has to start to be match and finished. Including the last piece of communication that will be released. As A. Tasgal defends: “This is just
the top of the iceberg, a single and small piece containing the essence of your aim, just a 15% of the entire process. “ This output has to be effective with the objectives
and purposes of the client. Although you measure and control the increase or the decrease of sales on reports, it is true that measuring the awareness and behaviours
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seem to be more complex.
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A. Tasgal. Freelance Planner and Lecturer at Buckinghamshire New University in the MA Advertising course of Creative Planning . March 2011 – April 2011.
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10. 1.1. THE RESEARCH.
The research is a really important weapon that the agency has to know how to use. The process depends on the way you look data. The research is useful at the
beginning of a campaign and at the end of it, in order to measure the effectiveness. At the beginning of the stage, the main objective of the research is to get into
consumerʼs behaviours and insights in order to work in the most effective way. The planning department will interrogate the product, market, and the target. How do
planners do that?
The demand for this data has created really profitable business. Companies like Milward Brown, TNS or Nielsen have become indispensable for large companiesʼ
marketing departments all around the world. The data provided by these companies help marketers and advertisers to find useful facts for their business and their
strategies. According to S. Payne – Planner at Mother UK – the best way of responding to a clientsʼ business problem is with numbers and facts. That could be about the
use of social networks by a particular segment of teenagers, or about how the phone market is moving away from what used to be. “The data validates your decisions,
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measure and prove effectiveness, and justifies the spent of the budget.“
But why stats and numbers are so important? According to some professionals inside the industry creativity is a must for the agency but is an obstacle for some
clients. Therefore the data and the way you validate that campaign end been much more important than the creativity. M. Rodriguez, creative and conceptist at
StartCreative UK defends the data as a tool to validate the agencyʼs work. “Well actually because itʼs a business, and creativity by itself means nothing. It has a purpose
otherwise wouldnʼt need a methodology or a ʻsavoir faire.ʼ Besides, everyone is creative… But I would say that not everyone can understand creativity and it feels scary
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at some point. Numbers are an international language and help us to test good ideas.”
We have seen that there are companies whose job is to provide with data to clients in order to understand their business and everything around it. Actually the
data side of the business turns to be really lucrative and powerful. Although the most famous companies in the world use this kind of methods not all the research
process is dressed with that expensive suits. Usually inside creative agencies you can find people whose job is to take care about this information using cheap and
effective ways of measuring and controlling data. According to Dhiren Shingadia, data planner at AMV BBDO London, itʼs easy to use different free softwareʼs such
Google Trends – useful to measure how many times a word has been searched on the web, (buzz-meters) providing data about the interests of people -, the famous
Google AdWords – based on the concept of paying for clicks, controlling the access and the time spent on a website -, Google Insights for Search - providing insights into
the search terms people have been entering into the search toolbar engine. Unlike Google Trends, Google Insights for Search provides a visual representation of regional
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Samuel Payne, planner at Mother London – creative agency- . Interviewed on 15 of July.
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Mauro Rodriguez, creative and conceptist at StartCreative London. Interviewed 13 of June.
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11. interest on a country's map.- or other Google Webmaster tools which as D. Shingadia says– Digital Data planner at AMV BBDO London – defines as “pretty efficient to
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get quick and easy data“.
Since decades, advertisers have been using a large number of techniques linking others disciplines and advertising. All the examples provided above work on the
Web and are a must for nowadays communications. But out of the Internet, it always has been a clear and simple division inside the research techniques depending on
which data are you looking for: Quantitative vs Qualitative.
On the one hand the quantitative research. Is a systematic investigation of behaviours and social attitudes towards particular brands or messages. This
research is made via statistical, mathematical or computational observation. Its objective is to understand from an empirical point of view how your brand is doing. Is
useful for marketers in order to establish hypotheses and theories about markets inertia. The quantitative research responds to a clientʼs need; the business analysis,
and matches with our left hemisphere, which is the objective, the logic, gives estimations and is in charge of numerical computations.
The quantitative research can give you a wide range of data depending on what are you looking for. For instance, if we want to measure the effectiveness of a
communication piece in particular or the visual impact of a new packaging. Although is still an old method, the data collected is useful to measure the effect of advertising
afterwards. Many of the quantitative techniques fall into two broad categories: Interval Estimation and Hypothesis Test. It is common in statistics to estimate a parameter
from a sample of data. Interval Estimation expands on time estimations by incorporating the uncertainty of the point estimated. Hypothesis Tests also address the
uncertainty of the sample estimate. However, instead of providing an interval, a Hypothesis Test attempts to refute a specific claim about a population parameter based
on the sample data. For instance when we want to refute that German people are not always blond. We have a hypothesis: Not all the German people is blond because I
saw a brunette girl.
On the other hand, we use the data provided by the qualitative research, the one that deals with the right hemisphere of the brain measuring emotions, music,
feelings, colour moods, and words process. The qualitative research is used to gain insight into peopleʼs behaviours, value systems, concerns, attitudes, culture, lifestyles
and aspirations. The classic example is the focus group, or in-depth interviews ethnography…
Qualitative researchers aim to gather an in-depth understanding of human behaviour and the reasons that govern such behaviour. The qualitative method
investigates the why and how of decision making, not just what, where, when. Hence, smaller but focused samples are more often needed, rather than large samples.
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Dhiren Shingadia, data planner at AMV BBDO London. One week workshop at AMV BBDO London from the 18 till the 22 of July. Interviewed on the 22 .
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12. As we can see, the research methods used during that stage aims to collect data from the costumer or market. During the qualitative research, costumers have to
engage with the experts in order to say what they really think about something In particular. Therefore we could argue that the qualitative research needs voluntary
interaction and focuses its key learning on a rational response from the subject.
The subject wants to help. He answers a lot of different and apparently random questions. But everything goes through its brain measuring each word and each
opinion about the issue discussed. Itʼs revealed that 95% or people on commercial research processes say something different than what they really think. In order
words, people donʼt lie; people donʼt know why they act like they do.
When we are buying we are not decoding that much what our brain thinks about products and services, we are choosing our purchase unconsciously in few
seconds. Why the same costumer should rationalize something during a focus group when obviously is not what happens on the supermarket? The answer is that under
pressure or when we have been asked, we try to post-rationalize our choices following logical statements. Since this human phenomenon was discovered the validity of
some research methods has been argued strongly. The main problem is the lack of credibility all the exposed research methods have. Both qualitative and quantitative
have to be used till some point due to this lack of validity.
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13. 2. 2011 MARKETSʼ
During this chapter I want to explain the current market that advertising is facing. I will try to make a summary of those landmarks that have brought us here to
face this challenging landscape. Either the nature of those landmarks social, economic, or politic, has an unpredictable influence on the todayʼs market.
After years and years of investment and research, marketers, psychologists, and advertisers have noticed that there is a big difference between what people say
and what people do. We donʼt know ourselves that well. We are unpredictable, and thatʼs a problem. If I am investing time and money to figure out how to persuade you
to buy a brand, it doesnʼt matter how many people is working on the research, whether it is quantitative or qualitative. The truth is that we donʼt know how to express our
real thoughts as consumers. According to that, advertising needs a different approach to measure efficiently what really consumer think, which is hidden in the
subconscious.
Our world is changing dramatically. The place where we live has changed completely independently to which country we are talking about. We are not living in a
real – tangible world anymore. We have something called the Internet, which is a duplication of our life. Everything in a different level, which has, became more and more
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important recently due to the possibilities it offers above the ones you have in the real life. This second sphere created by Tim Berner – Lee invented in 1991, has
changed absolutely all the rules and how life was understood till then. The much the society changes, the more development in the way of communicating is required by
agencies and companies to engage people. Psychology or anthropology acts as an active partner of advertising in order to identify the best way to reach people and
modulate the tone, the strategy and the objectives of their work.
Everything started in 2004 with the launch of Gmail, which allowed people to use the Blog, an accurate space where to write opinions, reviews, stories or even
theories, like the traditional market where people used to attend in order to hear and see what was going on. This new tool allowed people to publish and share original
thoughts. People had voice to say their opinions. Obviously this new context brought new experiences and we have learned rapidly to assume and measure the
consequences of having a voice that can be heard. But the context has changed again and is going to change more just because technology is evolving in such a way
that nowadays there are too many voices out there.
The Digital world has replicated our lives towards a new dimension. Companies like Google, Ebay or Amazon are already part of our lives, and we give the
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importance they deserve. Few days ago a read an article on The Guardian introducing that a new study was conducted in Columbia University and it revealed that the
rise of Internet search engines, like Google or Bing, have actually changed the way our brain remembers information. Betsy Sparrow, psychologist and lead author of that
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Lecturer Martin Runnacles at Buckinghamshire New University during the MA Advertising course, Director of Ultegra Consultancy at London.
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ʻPoor Memory? Blame Googleʼ article. The Guardian July 15 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jul/15/poor-memory-blame-google
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14. Study at Columbia University says: "We are reorganizing the way we remember things," … "We remember less through knowing information itself than by knowing where
the information can be found." It's indeed the first research of its kind into the effects of search engines on human memory organization and it could impact the way we
learn.
In our daily live we engage with a lot of different kind of people; neighbours, our job mates, our colleagues at university or even our teachers. But now they are
also their information in their profile on Facebook, the publications they share on twitter, the friends they add, the videos they see and all the things they like. As M.
Runnacles argues, “In the real world a lecture by a teacher is the same as browsing somebodyʼs Blog looking for information or even watching teaching-videos on
Youtube. We are engaging with people as we used to do. We live in a massive civilization where 300 messages a day impact our brain.” All together means that there is
a lot of noise out there and our consciousness rejects the messages keeping them in the subconscious.
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For instance, when I interviewed Stephen Woodford chairman and CEO at DDB UK , he mentioned something really interesting; “if a person click ʻLIKEʼ to a
brand on Facebook, there is a +25% of chances of buying that brand.” The digital landscape ahead us has brought new techniques and ways to measure triggers and
potential consumers in the real world. The thing is that brands project us beyond our closest group of friends or relatives. We are saying that people recognize some
brands as a feature of their character.
Martin Lindstrom believes that nowadays we are swapping our faith and religion by brands and images. We are immersing on an evolving social behaviour of
standing out from the mass and making statements about ourselves. “Have you ever smiled knowingly at the person on the treadmill next to you when you notice he or
she is wearing the same brand of running sneakers? Or Honked and waved at the guy in the next lane because heʼs driving a Toyota Scion and so are you? My point is,
whether youʼre in love with Nike, Neutrogena, Absolut or Harley-Davidson, chances are you feel a sense of belonging among other users of that brand – itʼs like being a
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member of a not-so-exclusive club.” In fact this opinions has been forwarded and sustained by other experts in social consuming issues, professor Joseph Price from
Whittier College, who studies parallels between the worlds of sports and religion, has likened the Super Bowl to a religious pilgrimage. “A religious pilgrimage is more
than just a journey to a place,” he says. “It involves interior exploration, quests for a transcendent goal, overcoming barriers and physical or spiritual healing.”
A natural need has arisen. We need to stand out from the mass, from the anonymous status of citizen, therefore brands help us to build an identity in order to be
unique among the rest of anonymous individuals who by the way need to stand out too. “Nike help us to be recognized as a sports lover, or just somebody trying to keep
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fit.“ We agree on the meaning of that stamp over our character and public face. The Internet influences our lives in such a way that has carried cultural and social
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Interview during the MA Advertising workshop at DDB Uk on 22 of March 2011.
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Lindstrom, M, Buyology: Truth and Lies About why we Buy, (Broadways Books 2008), chapter 6.
Lecturer Rick Kiesewetter, Creative Director at Mister Poon London. Lecture during May 2011 during the MA Advertising course at Buckinghmshire New University.!
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15. changes, and that obviously affects the ways of using communication and consuming. Therefore new approaches are required and the use of scientific tools can help us
to identify what we need to know inside this complex context.
“Today we know that 8 out of 10 new product releases in the western world fail, within the first three months.” Another stat argues that in Japan, 9 products out of
10 new products released fail. Itʼs assume that a new product in Europe will stay on the shelf for 10 weeks, whereas in Japan it will only last two weeks. “To further
complicate things, the innovation time for a new product in Europe is on average 16 months, but in Japan itʼs only three! Let me not forget Korea. There youʼll discover
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the fastest innovation time in the world – with an average of only 10 weeks.” Which in terms of marketing and product life term means nothing, in other words, higher
competence with higher quality products.
So which ones are the triggers to survive in the 2011 market? Why all these products fail despite been tested on back of traditional market research tools? The
answer might be somewhere outside of the advertising horizon. People donʼt lie on purpose, and the big trouble marketers and advertisers face when working on market
research is whether to believe or not what their volunteersʼ opinion on the focus group. Usually during focus groups the feedback received is virtually positive according to
the surveys and questionnaires filled previously. Thatʼs one of the reasons why Neuromarketing can be useful in the future among other research tools, because it brings
more accuracy when predicting, and removes this lack of trust.
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Surprisingly, an average person will see two million TV commercials in a lifetime . Our world is over saturated in all the spheres. Our worries determine what we
choose and why. This high level of competence to remain at peopleʼs life is what is pushing advertisers and marketers towards new limits and scenes. An over crowded
and challenging landscape ahead us. Therefore more companies are betting for new ways of impacting consumers, for instance through senses; fragrances in stores,
touch and colours. Because has been proved that in constant growing markets, the best way to approach consumers is through new experiences, and been different, the
real difference relies deeper in our minds, in the subconscious. In other words companies know that this kind of new techniques work under the radar of our conscious
and it is more effective to increase awareness or the brand image.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
23
Lindstrom, M, version: Martinlindstrom.com.
24 th
Brand Life Magazine. Printed edition. Spring 2008 Madrid (Spain).18 of August.
! "#!

16. 3. A BIT OF LIGHT: SCIENCE
My aim during this chapter is to get into science to try to understand the effect of what advertising does into people and how it works in their brains. This chapter
relies on the importance of using science to understand peopleʼs behaviours and insights. I will decode the brain of a person using scientific approaches that have helped
to a better knowledge of ourselves. Knowing the effect of advertising in the brain can help us to reach our effectiveness in advertising actions.
To begin with, I would like to introduce Antonio Damasio. A. Damasio is s a well known neuroscientist who postulated in his first book
25
Descartesʻ Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain ʼ, that despite all the real knowledge that appeared during the Enlightenment, humans are
not as rational and logical as we think. We are emotional animals. After years of research and investigations nowadays we can say that we know at
least how our brain has been developed and its structure and it looks something like that:
- The Brain Stem or The Reptilian Brain. Responsible of our two genetic programmes; reproduction and keep
us alive.
- The Limbic System where feelings, thoughts and our emotional side is located. Here are located our main
instincts.
- The Neocortex developed in later mammals. Scientists sustain that our rational thoughts are processed in
here. In other words, our planning skills and the decision-making relies in the Neocortex.
Fig 2.- The human brain can be divided into three major Sub-
systems, and each dates back to a different evolutionary era.
Fig 3.- Table explaining the functions of the brain by the Brain Stem, the Limbic system and the Neocortex. Humans are
the only ones disposing from Rational skills, but our rational serves the emotional, but the rational canʼt read the data, so
irrational or unconscious actions take place influenced by the Limbic System.
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25
Damasio A., Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain, Pan Macmillan, abril de 1994
! "$!

17. Part of brain Organ Who Logic Emotions
Reptilian brain Brain stem Lower animals (including reptiles), Reflex action No emotion, just instinctual drives and
mammals and humans reactions
Emotional brain Limbic system – Mammals including humans Associative, Automatic, fast, unreasoned, gut reaction
including Black and white, personalised, self-confirming e.g. lust
amygdala Can ʻhijackʼ the neocortex.
Rational brain Neocortex Humans Cause and effect, Relatively slow, reasoned emotional
Think probabilistically & take impersonal viewpoint reactions e.g. love
As you can see on Fig.- 3 (above these lines), nowadays we can certainly know that there is virtually nothing that goes on without interacting with the Limbic
System, which means that the Limbic System is much more responsible about our behaviour. Is not conscious reaction, it just carries on under the surface. Our
Neocortex then, all the planning, the decision-making, and professional goals serve this Limbic System. A. Damasio brought this subject to the table on 1984 and
suddenly a strange landscape was open for the study or the human behaviour. Few decades later experts argue that we act according to some parameters in our brain
and we just rationalise what we do, ʻpost hocʼ.
From that point onwards, science has been duplicating his efforts in order to understand better how we behave and we do what we do. We understand better the most
complex and perfect machine created.
26
Fig 4.- The image shows a fMRI scan of the brain responding to a visual memory task.
In scan 1, a subject is asked to remember a face. The areas of the brain that process visual information remains active during this task, Thatʼs
the frontal lobe. In scan 2, the subject is asked to "think about a particular face. The part of the brain shown is active during the time when we are
remembering new information. In scans 3 and 4, the subject was asked to compare another face to the remembered one. Some of the same
visual areas are activated as the ones during the initial 2nd part of the task. But new areas, areas involved in making a decision about the
memory.
Neuromarketing measures parameters and results pointing the proper areas depending on the information you are looking for. Knowing the tasks
on each part of the brain makes easier to point your efforts around the long term memory for instance, or if an ad grabs people attention or not.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
26
Experiment dated in November 2000 by Mark D'Esposito and Charan Ranganath of the University of California, Berkeley. It was presented at the annual meeting of the Society for
Neuroscience; http://www.sfn.org/. Press Released for Berkeley University for the Health Science Innitiative to study the brain in an unprecedented way and seek conclusions for medical
problems.
!
! "%!

18. 3.1. THE UNCONSCIOUS BRAIN
The range of techniques used in those research methods is as extended and different as the results it provides. We can agree that almost the 90% of those
techniques focus their efforts in analysing the conscience of the consumer. The answer relies in the unconscious. Nowadays, we are suffering a range of 300 commercial
27
impacts per day in our lives. Therefore, the traditional techniques mentioned in the 1.1 chapters do not seem enough to measure the real effect of advertising in the
consumer brain. The aim is to measure efficiently whatʼs going on inside the consumerʼs mind – conscience and subconscious-. Some people argue that this busy society
where we live is the reason why our mind has increased the difference between conscious and subconscious. The power of our subconscious is as large and vast as all
the memories we have been through and all the things we have lived. Itʼs an amazing library where everything is hidden; as well as all the daily 300 commercials that we
do not pay attention to.
In the last two years, a lot of publications have arisen bringing the question of why we buy? or if there is a Buy Button in our brain?, to the agenda of hundreds of
companies ready to invest in what would be a twist in their way of seeing the consumer. Seems that the need of growing businesses is taking companiesʼ leadership to
break into a different sphere. We are talking about conscious and unconscious and the decision of purchasing at both levels.
Philip Graves is a consumer behaviour consultant, author, speaker and regular contributor to the media. Is described as one of the worldʼs leading consumer
behaviour experts. He has written his first book Consumer.ology (2010) that has made him well known all around the world as the expert who has the key to open the
persuasion door of the unconscious mind. “Most people can identify with that moment of driving a car when they realize that, for some indiscernible amount of time, they
have been driving without conscious awareness. The section of journey has been uneventful, they have progressed without incident or harm, but they have no
28
recollection of what has occurred or for how long they have been consciously absent from the driving process.“ P. Graves argues that our unconscious mind has vast
amounts of data that we regularly rely on to make decisions, but we donʼt have any direct, conscious access to those processes. In other words, the importance of the
unconscious mind affecting our daily decisions, is questioning the validity of the common market research tools because business are expecting customers to respond
accurately and sincerely in research, but is their unconscious mind which pushes their response, therefore is not a rational process which can not be measured by
rational and static market research tools. The incredible thing is that we are not even aware of that. “Asking someone to taste a sample of a product seems an entirely
reasonable ting to do, as does asking them what they think of what they have tasted. On the other hand, the normal purchase process involves neither of these elements,
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
27
Renvoisé, P and Morin, C, Neuromarketing: Is there a ʻBuy buttonʼ inside the brain? (3th and, Salesbrain 2007). Introduction.
28
Graves, P, Consumerology: The Market Research Myth, the Truth About Consumers, and the Psychology of Shopping (2010). Pag 11
!
! "&!

19. but does involve referencing a different set of mental associations to do with factors such as temperature, thirst, precious experiences of the product, and the context in
29
which you find yourself. When taste-test results are considered in this context, any results they produce seems far less compelling,”
We are surrounded by examples of how the unconscious and the conscious mind behave very differently, examples that show the contributions that each makes
30
to the way we behave. “We are all rather bad at explaining our actions, as we are at predicting what we want or what we will do in the future.” So actually there is a big
gap between what we say and what we do. We donʼt know ourselves to predict our behaviour in a punctual moment. P. Graves exposes that 77% of the participants in a
research involving focus groups and individual questionnaires said that they would buy a product if they saw it at the supermarket. But why then they didnʼt buy it once it
31
was launched? Thatʼs the reason why focus groups usually are not effective.
th 32
As professor Gemma Calvert said in the APG meeting on the 15 of September 2010 , “Traditional tools only give us insight into their conscience which is good,
useful and descriptive but we donʼt want just the top of the iceberg.” We have to go in deeper comprehension of the brain functionality and understand its reactions that
go under the surface and are impossible to spot with the current research tools. Despite that, the current research tools help us a bit, but seems that the current complex
scenario needs more effectiveness and accuracy to reveal truths that used to be much more easier to reveal. Our unconscious brain and our conscience are conspiring
one against the other. Lars Hall from Harvard University and Petter Johansson from University of Tokyo have conducted an experiment trying to understand how we
33
make daily decisions in collaboration with the Lund University of Cognitive Science. They made an experiment in order to see what kind of detail the representations
behind peopleʼs decisions and what kind of insight they have about those decisions. The experiment was about forcing people to make decisions by choosing one face
among two. The second part of the exercise was to give a verbal feedback about the reasons behind your choice.
Fig 5.- The images above show the experiment. On picture A
we see how volunteers have been asked to choose one face
among two. B shows the choice made by the volunteer, the
picture on the bottom. On C we see how the face rejected –the
one in the top- is given to the volunteer as the choice they
made. They give feedback post hoc about why they choose the
one they rejected. Screen shots from the video of Choice
Blindness Lab.
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29
Graves, P, Pag 15.
30
Graves, P, Pag 2.
Graves, P, Pag 56.!
31
32 th
Account Planning Group meeting on the 15 of September 2010 at the Welcome Gallery, 183 Euston Rd. http://www.apg.org.uk/
Video shown during a workshop at M&C Saatchi London during the week of the 14 of February 2011.!
33 th
! "'!

20. If you see it from a different perspective the experiment results far interesting due to the fact that there is a cards trick during the process. People choose one
picture rejecting the other one, but P. Johanssen use a cheap card trick to twist the two faces and give the participant the picture they rejected previously. They choose a
card and they end up with the other one. The curious thing is that almost an 80% of participant in the experiment they didnʼt realize that the face wasnʼt the one they had
chosen. Moreover at the time of giving the report, they give reasons, which motivate a choice they didnʼt make. Thatʼs a proof of our brain conspiring against us. In other
words we just simply post rationalise wrong decisions, decisions we make even if they donʼt response to our choices. We just post-rationalize them trying to seem logical
34
and fully rational.
But thatʼs the problem, we should simulate and create and scenario where our volunteers will make decisions unconsciously just like they do when purchasing in
the life.
We have seen how complex our society is getting and how difficult is for us to explain what we think and do and the most important thing why. Seems a horrifying
place to be right now. But new disciplines arise to solve our problem, to listen our SOS call.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
34
The experiment was carried out thanks to the Choice Blindness Lab, from Lund University of Cognitive Science.
! "(!

21. 4. SOS, NEUROSCIENCE
We have seen a lot of different techniques used on market research that we could agree are considered as traditional. We have seen, as well how the social and
commercial landscape ahead us requires new approaches and new disciplines. Also, we have seen how the use of science has been implemented since the last ten
years. But now, we should start looking into this reinvented discipline called Neuroscience.
Neuroscience is not a new technique at all. Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system, in other words, the brain. “Itʼs a term broadly used to
describe the application of tools, tasks/tests derived from the fields of cognitive psychology and neuroscience to measure a non-conscious biological (opposed to
35
conscious psychological) reactions to marketing stimuli” Gemma Calvert, CIM 2010 . In other words, Cognitive Neuroscience wants to explain non-conscious reactions
to ads, packaging and marketing communications. It is basically a modern tool to work on the Consumer Research field. Nowadays is considered as an interdisciplinary
that complements other fields such as chemistry, computer science, linguistics, mathematics, engineering, philosophy, physics, medicine and psychology.
In the recent years Neuroscience has been used to measure the subconscious voice for marketing purposes and qualitative research creating the term
Neuromarketing. Lots of market research companies are hiring experts to evaluate and test these new techniques. That is the case of Dr. Cristina de Balanzo, Global
36
Head of Neuroscience at TNS . Dr. de Balanzo has been collaborating with other experts in the Uk and around the world to investigate on the commercial application of
Neuroscience. “Nesuroscience is a deeper dimension to actually measure in the brain how the consumer feels or thinks.” Neuromarketing can give us an objective result
by measuring and classifying brainʼs activity/waves effectiveness because it links the cognitive point of view of psychology with the brain scan of Neuroscience. It studies
consumers' sensor motor, cognitive, and affective response to marketing stimuli.
Despite these new dimension, we should fit these new techniques among the ones we use in order to improve and useful for different approaches. Where does
Neuromarketing fit in the rest of Market Research tools? And which kind of information it provides?
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35
Professor G. Calvert is one of the most eminent experts in Neromarketing in London. She attended to the APG meeting (The Account Planning Group) to give a workshop introducing
Neuroscience during last September 2010, including different insights and examples of the application of Neuromarketng. The presentation was done in collaboration with Neurosense -
Gemma Calvert-, London Business School –Executive Director & Principle Dr. Tim Ambler- and TNS – by Global Head of Neuroscience Dr. Cristina de Balanzo. The presentation is
uploaded on the website: http://www.apg.org.uk/?p=87
$'!TNS is a leading company worldwide in market research, global business analysis and consumer research.!!
! ")!

22. According to Dr. Calvert the key thing about Neuromarketing and the rest of techniques as well is that “you have to make the proper question and then fit the
37
technique of marketing research that may suits more to you research. Neuromarketing can work in the area of knowing the feelings of costumers and measuring them.”
So where does Neuromarketing fit in the rest of Market Research tools? And which kind of information it provides?
TNS – AdEval tests which aim is to Fig 6.- The table shows
measure the impact and persuasion of creative how the common used
market research tools fit
campaigns. They do that comparing the results of with Neuromarketing.
a particular campaign with data from 9,000 Also it shows the kind of
1 global information that can
campaigns analyzed.
provide in terms of
qualitative/ quantitative with
Milward Brown AdEval tests which is described and measurable
data.
really similar to the one from TNS. It can help to
Measurements have a
predict a response according to your strategy and
direct effect on sales
providing insights to arrange possible changes in efficacy.
the whole sense of the campaign not just in
singular detail.
! We could argue that it works on this missed link between description of costumer feelings (anger, happiness - irrational and unconscious-) and measuring
costumer thoughts (verbally, simpler lack of accuracy). As the table shows Neuromarketing can actually measure consumer feelings. So seems to be a powerful weapon
to increase the validity and the effectiveness of messages
Every time we are exposed to a commercial communication our brain process that info and make us react. But in all research process used such as focus
groups, surveys or ethnography, we are under ʻpressureʼ and we need to be coherent and clear with our opinions. In such cases the brain works ʻafterwardsʼ, which
means that it will do whatever is needed to look as much rational and coherent as possible, even it means to justify a decision made even if it is not coherent with what
we though previously.
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37
Dr. Cristina de Balanzo opinion according to some questions I made to her via email. She is from Spain and has been working at TNS UK for two years now.
! "*!

23. During this workshop she explained an example that feels suitable right now at this stage of the dissertation and is related with how the brain processes
information and how we are affected by this unconscious perception.
38
Ex: Gemma Calvert played a video in the conference room. And she made a simple question before playing the video. The experiment was about visual
awareness. The question was: “can you count how many passes can you count during the video?” The video was about 8 people dressed in black and white, two teams
with 4 members each one moving around and passing a ball between them. So far, so good. People counted the passes that the white time did without big troubles. Our
brain did that job efficiently, and actually everybody was surprised about how easy was the task ordered. The video ended and people were satisfied with the result. After,
Gemma asked: “How many of you have count 12 passes?” –some raised their hands- “13 passes?” – it was the correct answer and almost 80% of people agreed- “15
passes?” – just couple of people – “And how many of you noticed the black moonwalking bear crossing through the middle of the scene?” –Nobody, surprisingly.
This case was just an example of showing how manipulative can be our brain. We can order to our brain to count the passes and it will not see anything else but
the passes, what has been actually requested. Their subconscious picked up the moonwalking bear crossing the scene but decided not to tell to your conscience
because thatʼs not what you were looking for. It is actually a hierarchy of information and our conscience was too busy counting passes and staring at the white t-shirts.
Thatʼs another reason why traditional market research tools donʼt work. We are conditioned under the main question and we are completely influenced and
addressed to it, then we are blind about the rest of things that matters.
Neuromarketing is a new field of marketing that studies consumerʼs sensorial, cognitive and effective response to communications and marketing impacts.
Marketers and researchers use these technologies such as functional magnetic resonance imaging. (fMRI) to measure changes in activity in parts of the brain,
electroencephalography (EEG) and Steady state topography (SST) to measure activity in specific regional spectra of the brain response, and/or sensors to measure
changes in oneʼs physic and physiological state to learn the reason why consumers make the decisions they make when purchasing, and the most important thing,
Neuromarketing scans in which part of our brain that spark is produced. This might sound scary but as Martin Lindstrom sustains, “the more companies know about our
subconscious needs and desires, the more useful, meaningful products they will bring to the market shells.” What is actually its first aim by contributing the improve
peopleʼs life by bringing needed products.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
$)!Professor G. Calvert attended to the APG meeting (The Account Planning Group) to give a workshop introducing Neuroscience during last September 2010 in collaboration with
Neurosense -Gemma Calvert-, London Business School –Executive Director & Principle Dr. Tim Ambler- and TNS – by Global Head of Neuroscience Dr. Cristina de Balanzo. The
presentation is uploaded on the website: http://www.apg.org.uk/?p=87!
! #+!

24. The Neuroscience Functions inside the advertising industry are quite broad but we can agree that to begin with it measures the effectiveness of public messages
or product extensions by measuring unconscious responses that are linked to emotions. It can re direct marketing decisions saving money or receiving the investment
back. It also can help to improve and evaluate the traditional market tools and provide accuracy to what we look for when using them – validating the output of focus
groups sessions-. Neuroscience is one of the first techniques that try to approach people with different stimuli such fragrances and sounds.
! #"!

25. 4.1. NEUROMARKETING TECHNIQUES
The most used tools in Neuroscience for
market research:
- Probably one of the most famous, popular
and successful Neuromarketing techniques on market
research is the fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance
Imaging). To be honest is not very pleasant to be
inside one of those machines that basically are a very
large and massive magnet that will scan your brain in
depth obtaining a 3D image. The Scanner will take
pictures of your brain activity every two seconds in
order to measure the changes and triggers of your
Fig 7: fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) Fig 8: fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) real
brain waves over that period. Also the technique cutaway image segmented by parts. The patient inside footage from the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and
receives visual stimuli; meanwhile the magnet and the Behaviour from the Wisconsin University
includes a second part based on creating stimuli. scanner take pictures of the brain.
Whether you decide to test a smell, a 30 seconds TV
ad, new products, images or even incorporate a joystick and navigate through a virtual supermarket
where to make your purchases.
Once you have the picture of the brain with all the activity going on inside you can actually
translate this information into something readable like graph charts for instance. The fMRI scanner itʼs
an expensive tool but at the same time gives you the most in depth information about the brain activity
and actually to measure emotions such as anxiety, anger, disgust… The image shown is the result of
the simplest kind of fMRI experiment. While lying in the MRI scanner the subject watched a screen
which alternated between showing a visual stimulus and being dark every 30 second. Fig 9: Meanwhile the MRI Fig 10: The results look like that.
scanner tracked the signal It is then easier to understand
The data collected can be translated into simpler information easier to read. Decoding and throughout the brain. It takes and interpret the image of brain
pictures of brain areas parts in colours.
studying the parts of the brain we can actually build the following table from that image: responding to the visual
stimulus.
! ##!

26. - Another frequently used tool is the one called EEG (electroencephalography) created around the 80s. The EEG consists in cap with 32 electros on it to measure
on milliseconds basis what occurs in the brain. Itʼs usually used to detailed information like the visual effect of a particular face on a TV ad for example. The information
provided by the EEG is useful to measure time line information and long term memory encoding.
Fig 11: A subject wears the cap
with the 32 electros. It will
measure visual perceptions.
Relies on details and is useful to Fig 12: The information taken
measure time line information. from the EEG looks something
like that. Itʼs basically the brain
waves according to some
parameters and inside particular
areas.
- The eye-tracking is used since the early 80s as well and it can measure where the eyes look at in a store, in the packaging… Itʼs useful information that allows
you to know the hotspots of your product or your supermarket, and see how we focus our attention depending on the colours of a particular packaging.
Figs 13 - 14: This is an eye-tracking experiment. In this case the experiment is based on packaging level and tries to spot where the eyes go first in order to make clear the message and
the values of the product. These are two different packs tested on the eye-tracking. on the right of each pack we can see the hot spots where eyes goes first. The action is unconscious.
On fig 13 the eye grabs the message on the top, the product, the model and the brand. On fig 14 the message is read as well as the product an the face of the model – slightly less -, nu
the brand is not perceived on the ad.
! #$!

27. - The last technique used by Neuroscientists is Behavioural Economics. It is less technological and therefore more popular inside the industry. Behavioural
Economics is derived from Social Psychology and attempts to look at how to affect large-scale population behaviour change. If you look at the population we behave in
certain ways under certain conditions and understanding that can help marketers and advertisers to redirect peopleʼs purchases to buy green or red for instance.
To resume all that data I think that would be a great idea to dispose visually all the techniques provided by Neuromarketing. There is flexibility on the use of those
techniques due to the fact that they are not dangerous at any stage, but some ethical limits are involved at the moment of studying pregnant woman and children. It is
common to use this techniques combined in order to maximize the strengths of each recording. I did this graph chart according to the kind of depth information and timing
39
line that all these techniques can provide.
Fig 15: Graph chart showing what kind of information can give
us the Eye-tracking, the EEG and the fMRI regarding to a time
line – milliseconds, seconds, minutes- and the amount of
information provided –cognitive and emotional states-
represented by the size.
The size is coherent with the investment required from each tool
and as well as the portability.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
39
Professor G. Calvert attended to the APG meeting (The Account Planning Group) to give a workshop introducing Neuroscience during last September 2010 in collaboration with
Neurosense -Gemma Calvert-, London Business School –Executive Director & Principle Dr. Tim Ambler- and TNS – by Global Head of Neuroscience Dr. Cristina de Balanzo. The
presentation is uploaded on the website: http://www.apg.org.uk/?p=87
! #%!

28. The areas where Neuromarketing can work on is fully broad. Neuromarketing can work towards Brand recognition strategies, helping to spot at packaging levels
where is the perfect place to put your logo and a message. Thanks to the time line experiments it can provide data on memory encoding about commercial messages
and brand loyalty. Neuromarketing can help to understand costumersʼ emotions - responses to ads-, emotional engagements, trust and distrust feelings. With no
discussion Neuromarketing increases advertising effectiveness due to the fact that brings new untraded subjects to the table. The prediction of sales is one of the main
triggers for marketers and companies to use Neuromarketing tools, because it validates with accurate results the outputs presented.
! #&!

29. 4.2. CASE STUDIES
There is a full range of different companies from different industries who are getting into Neuroscience research according to MartinLindstrom.com: Johnson and
Johnson, P&G, Unilever, Proximity, McDonalds, GM, Intel, phd, ThinkBox, and VIACOM. Also companies are investing in their own research to bring to the light
40
academic papers and press releases about social issues and the way to solve them.
A ʻThe largest Neuromarketing study ever conducted.ʼ M. Lindstrom explains in his first book Buy.ology how he saw the biggest display on scientific tools in order
to gain commercial information about cigarettes and the effect of its death danger among the consumers. Martin introduces his groundbreaking study, and shows how
this powerful new tool, Neuromarketing, will turn traditional market research on its head. Whether itʼs a pack of cigarettes, a new car or a soft drink, we can identify why
we buy the things we do by using a cutting edge science to shed fascinating new light into our secret triggers. M. Lindstrom has been in charge of large amounts of
investment into new procedures of marketing research. In this case he worked with the fMRI scanner, an enormous machine worth in 4 million dollars. This machine is
the most advanced brain-scanning technique available today. fMRI measures the magnetic properties of haemoglobin, the components in red blood cells that carry
oxygen around the body. It measures the amount of oxygenated blood throughout the brain. When the brain is operating in a specific task, it demands more fuel, mainly
oxygen and glucose. The harder one region of the brain is working the greater consume of energy it would require. By tracking this activation, neuroscientists can
determine what specific areas in the brain are working at any given time.
The aim of that study was to look into consumersʼ response towards the cigarettes packaging after including death messages on them such as ʻSmoking killsʼ or
ʻSmoking seriously harms you and other around youʼ. The messages were included on the cigaretteʼs packs in 2006, by using strong messages or even shocking images
like in Europe. So, why despite the worldwide tobacco advertising bans the consumption of tobacco growth the following year?
The study counted and analyzed the brain waves of more than two thousand smokers from all the spectrum; those who just were occasionally smokers – when
partying and drinking, just during the morning, or two packs a day – The study concluded that far from preventing consumers to keep smoking, this messages
unconsciously pushed them to smoke even much more.
“It was twenty-five times larger than any other Neuromarketing study ever before attempted. Using the most cutting edge scientific tools available, it revealed the
hidden truths behind how branding and marketing messages work on the human brain, how our truest selves react to stimuli at a level far deeper than conscious thought,
41
and how our unconscious minds control our behaviour (usually the opposite of how we think we behave).”
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
40
Thatʼs the case of the company Water, who recently did a research about “The dehydration in the brain of teenagers among 16 and 18 years old.”
! #'!

30. B Another good example is the Dove case that was presented during the mentioned APG meeting by Gemma Calvert. In 2002, Dove wanted to expand their
business by entering in two new markets: Baby Care and Home Care. They launched Dove in both markets backed by a research process including focus groups,
questionnaires and surveys. The results of this research were positive enough to support the launch in the US. Despite all the research the Dove Home Care products
failed spectacularly. Although the surveys and the questionnaires showed that people would buy a Home Care Dove product, because they trusted on Dove and they
liked so they would buy it massively in the supermarket, it failed afterwards with a huge investment behind it.
Years later, the same brand tried a new approach of consumer research by trying with a technique called Neuromarketing. They tested the efficacy of the brand
Dove extended to other categories in order to predict results of a possible launch.
They used the fMRI scanner to analyze subjectʼs response to visual stimuli. In that case the images were ten new Dove products with a similar packaging to other
competitors from the Baby Care and Home Care markets. The new Dove products were created specifically for this research and were design using competitors packs
and layout as a guide.
The subjects were specifically chosen for this task: 26 – 45 with children under 3 years old. They were asked to look at twenty different products, ten Dove
products in those new categories and 10 products already established in those markets. The fMRI scanned their brain waves by areas, following the division by zone
located mentioned in the chapter 3.-. The features studied in that case were the part in charge of the emotions, and a part called Frontal Cortex which is the part that says
if you like it or not. The results were clear and showed that Dove was a really good brand with a positive brand image inside peopleʼs mind. The same happened with
Dove Baby Care, where the results were really similar as Dove core brand. On the other hand, the results showed that Dove Home Care wasnʼt good enough. In other
words, it was not credible at all, and people will not pay attention on it because a feeling of distrust was created between Dove and the category of Home Care.
After the scan test, a survey and some questionnaires were given to those subjects. People answered to it and the feedback was convincing a really positive.
Thatʼs another evidence about the discrepancy between what people say and what people actually do. They didnʼt lie during the first research conducted; they
just were not aware of their own opinion. And at that point was impossible to verbalize it because was under the surface, in the subconscious.
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41 nd
Lindstrom, M, Buyology: Truth and Lies About why we Buy, (Broadways Books 2008). 2 Chapter. Also at MartinLindstrom.com
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31. 5. CONCLUSION
Advertising is a dynamic and liquid industry that has to adapt and modify its ways of proceeding according to the situation. Scientific knowledge fits in that task of
understanding brands and consumers. However, its deeper application seems to be far away from the reality due to the amount of investment required. Both functions
Marketing and Advertising are struggling to find effective market research tools to use in their research because the traditional tools – qualitative - are not accurate
enough; they just describe the surface of the consumer behaviour, which is useful and descriptive but not really helpful for the current scenario.
Societies evolve, so the advertising industry. Its quest for a better understanding of markets and consumers has always been in touch with other social and
42
scientific disciplines. Since A. Damasio publication, Descartesʻ Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain , where he postulated that the human behaviour is mainly
driven by emotions that mostly act on the unconscious brain, the obstacles of deep knowledge around the drivers of consumer behaviour has become a nightmare for the
industry. These scientific reasons bring a question to the table. Despite that we use ʻsimpleʼ tools on research, are we effective enough? Just asking that question
responds the answer, because as I augmented during my research over the 85% of our consumer behaviour is driven by unconscious process, far away from our
awareness. So what about Neuromarketing then?
The benefits for its use have been proved, but the prohibitive amount of investment required makes us wait to see tangible results. Who would have said that the
ban messages on the tobacco packaging was actually fomenting smokers to keep smoking The Case Study of Dove, proves that they would saved a big amount of
money instead of throwing it to the rubbish by launching the Home Care line extension on behalf of focus groups.
Of course, Neuromarketing is not the answer to everything, but it definitely responds some doubts. As a young science, itʼs still limited by our lack of knowledge
about the human brain, but it definitely provides trends and examples to follow on the study of consumers and markets. We should be aware of what is going on because
seems that we are going to interesting direction. Like other sciences, Neuromarketing still has to find its own space in the industry, finding new ways of implementation.
As far as I can see, the only obstacle to avoid its effective use should be the prize and the investment required. But like all the new stuff, we have to wait and keep looking
at it because its implementation through cheaper and real ways is matter of time. The Neuromarketing techniques explained provide real and tangible feelings about what
we talk. Some people argue that due to the nature of Neuromarketing and how does it looks – surrounded by cables and electros, large scanners with loud noises- is not
really appealing, but the validity of these aesthetic arguments is rejected after the results. Other people argue that creativity and science are not good for each other, are
antagonists and must stay like that. I believe in that case, Science can bring the subject and Creativity can paint the canvas as always. Also, Neuromarketing can help
companies from different sectors to uncover with useful products what the consumers really want and need.
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Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain, Pan Macmillan, abril de 1994
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32. 6. REFERENCES
6.1. BIBLIOGRAPHY:
- PRIMARY SOURCES:
th
Interviews • Samuel Payne, planner at Mother Uk. 15 of July
th
• Mauro Rodriguez, creative and conceptist at Start Creative Uk. June 13 .
th
• Craig Adams, planner at Naked Uk. 5 of September.
th
• Montse Jodar, Brand Manager at PepsiCo Iberia. London. May 11 .
th
• Jordi Rosás, President and Head of planning at Villarosás. Barcelona 24 August.
th
• Borja Orozco, Creative Director at Mr. John Sample*… and vicepresident at SCPF. Interviewed on 10 of August.
8h th
• Dhiren Shingadia, Data Planner at AMV BBDO London. Interviewed during the AMV BBDO workshop from the 11 till the 22 of July,
nd
Interviewed on the 22 of July.
nd
• Stephen Woodford, chairman and CEO at DDB UK interviewed during the MA workshop on the 22 of March.
Workshops • Lecturer Martin Runnacles at Bucks New University during the MA Advertising course, Director of Ultegra Consultancy at London..
• Anthony Tasgal, Freelance Planner and Lecturer at Buckinghamshire New University. March 2011 – April 2011.
• Rick Kiesewetter, Creative Director at Mister Poon London, and lecturer at the MA Advertising course at Bucks New University. May 2011.
th nd
• AMV BBDO London. One week workshop during 18 July till the 22 July.
th
• Mother UK. One day Workshop. 25 July.
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• M&C Saatchi London. One day workshop 13 February 2011.
• APG Meeting. All along the MA Advertising course 2011.
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33. nd
• DDB UK One day workshop. 22 of march 2011.
Experience • Marketing Assistant at PepsiCo Iberia, Barcelona. December 09 – May 10.
• Advertising Executive at Bauhaus Spain. November 08 – May 09.
• Account Executive at Mr. John Sample*… Barcelona. February 08 – June 08.
- SECODARY SOURCES:
th
Articles: • Brand Life Magazine. Printed edition. Spring 2008 Madrid (Spain).18 of August.
Books: • Goleman, D, Emotional Intelligence (5th edn, Bantam 1997)
• Graves, P, Consumerology: The Market Research Myth, the Truth About Consumers, and the Psychology of Shopping (2010)
• Lindstrom, M, Buyology: Truth and Lies About why we Buy, (Broadways Books 2008)
• Renvoisé, P and Morin, C, Neuromarketing: Is there a ʻBuy buttonʼ inside the brain? (3th and, Salesbrain 2007)
• Damasio, A, Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain, (Pan Macmillan, abril de 1994)
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