We’ve had it so wrong in marketing for so long that like the proverbial frog in a tub of hot water with rising temperatures we haven’t noted incremental changes as we’ve actually become even more wrong in how we think about customers and marketing.
One of the most damaging realms of marketing mythology revolves around the idea that while everyone promotes giving messages an emotional twist the truth is that not many marketers understand this dynamic. Sorry to be so damning, but if one examines the rate of campaign failures we can obtain no other conclusion.
In the first place because of our own cultural conditioning we don’t really believe that emotions are the foundation of our decisions. We harbor the illusion that because we are rational beings we analyze our options and make decisions based on what our analysis reveals in our best interests. So we structure our marketing messages under the same assumption.
The only thing wrong with this scenario is that it’s pretty much wrong and new findings in neuropsychology are showing why.
But it’s not necessary to shove consumers through $3 million CAT scans to learn how wrong we have been and what we should be doing instead. All the greats in the golden days of advertising, e.g., Ogilvy, Bernbach, Barnett, et al) intuitively knew the right way to communicate with customer.
A friend just emailed me a TED talk on the topic that I heartily recommend. Marketer Simon Sinek just uses a flip chart – yes, no PowerPoint – and some common sense to illuminate what he claims is the biggest flaw in conventional marketing. He is worth listening to. But don’t just listen to the Sinek: study what his words mean. This experience could (honestly) change the way you see customers, approach marketing – and view yourself.
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