k e ys to

creatinga lastingimpression

a n d i n f lu e n c i n g co n s u m e r b e h av i o r

3B y D r . I t I e l D r o r , P h D , c o g n I t I v e n e u r o s c I e n t I s t w I t h u n I v e r s I t y c o l l e g e l o n D o nc o m P I l e D B y J o e B a r g m a n n f o r o g I l v y & m a t h e r

3 k e y s t o c r e a t I n g a l a s t I n g I m P r e s s I o n a n D I n f l u e n c I n g c o n s u m e r B e h a v I o r

Dr. ItIel Dror, PhD, a cognitive neuroscientist with University College London, teamed up with Nir Wegrzyn, the CEO of London-based BrandOpus,

for a heady session about human perception and memory, and the way they influence behavior. Dror offered these three keys to creating a lasting impression and influencing consumer behavior.

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make messagesinto memory.

“QuIrky ” IDeas anD Images, ones that trigger an emotional response, are more likely to take hold than are those that appeal to rationality, Dror says. “You can have the best marketing, advertising, and branding, but if a consumer looks at it and it’s not going to their brain, you are doing nothing. If they see it, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to remember it. What does the brain pay attention to, and what does it not pay attention to? What can we do to engage the brain? The human mind is not a camera. It is influenced by emotion.”

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“DIfferent Parts of the BraIn do different things, Dror says. “In policing, you have to train the correct part of the brain. Under time pressure, it’s a different part of the brain that makes a decision. It’s not enough to get in the head, into the brain—you need to get to the part of the brain that does the cognitive work. We need to harness the consumer’s brain. We need to look at the mechanisms. You have to learn what they actually know, not what they think they know. Cognitive neuroscience to make what you do much more powerful and effective.”

Understand how the mind works.

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the goal of all BranDIng and marketing efforts should be to place a product into the part of the brain perspective can change, and drive behavior. Dror refers to this as the area with “sunshine and a feeling of warmth. You want the consumer to be feeling something about the product that they didn’t feel before.” When you achieve this, you are more likely to influence a consumer’s behavior.

Turn Thoughtinto action.