users as real people

© Copyright comOn Group (comOn, SA) 2015

U S E R S A S R E A L P E O P L E

r i c a r d o . f o n s e c a @ c o m o n . p t B r a n d s t r a t e g i s t

P h D i n p s y c h o l o g y

mailto:[email protected]?subject=


E V E R Y B U S I N E S S I S A H U M A N B U S I N E S S

N O T E # 1


From Interior Design to Management or ioT, knowing how people think, feel and behave is a business advantage because 99% of all kinds of

businesses are human businesses.


In Marketing and Advertising this is no exception

Knowledge from psychology helps us answer multiple questions:

Why people use tablets in the evening?

Why is my brand perceived as “cold”?

Why people don't share the post of my Facebook page?

Why conversions rates decreased?

Why price strategy isn’t working?


Psychology’s legacy in advertising over time:


N O B E L P R I Z E E C O N O M I C S

The way we choose a brand, make purchase decisions or

form impressions about others is often less rational than we

think. We don’t like to spend a lot of time thinking about

possibilities, scenarios, etc. We like (and need) to be agile.


DEFAULT(


P I O N E R I N G B R A N D S

Some leading companies are already turning human

understanding in business advantage.

(in script writing) (in problem solving) (in changing behaviours)


I N S U M

There is a lot of room for innovation when one brings

psychology principles in the way marketing, business and

communication is thought out. Room for competitive

advantage.


H O W ?

Let’s start by deconstruct some marketing buzzwords using

the psychology lens.


P O S I T I O N I N G

N O T E # 2


f r o m a b u s i n e s s p o i n t o f v i e w

It’s the image that differentiates a brand from its

competitiors’.


f r o m a p s y c h o l o g y p o i n t o f v i e w

To organize reality in mental scripts that adapt us to different contexts

Restaurante Comer

Sala de aulas Aprender

Cinema Entreter

Restaurant

Classroom

Cinema

Eating

Learning

Entertain


W h a t a b o u t b r a n d ?

The same happens with brands.

Our mental maps organize brands more in terms of how they can

help us adapt to environment (“What is the value of this brand in

my life?”) than in terms of which market category they belong.


Nike Correr

Disney Entreter

Uber Facilitar

OK! ????

Running

Entertain

Facilitate


U n c o n s c i o u s e f f e c t s

The power of a positioning is so strong that it guides our

behaviours and beliefs beyond our levels of awareness.


Mais rápidos.Mais destemidos

Red Bull deu-lhes asas

Posicionamento pelo benefício funcional

(energia)

Faster Fiery

Red Bull gave them wings

Functionality-based positioning


Preço Desconto(0,89€)

Preço Normal(1,89€)

Mais lentosMais erros

Cheap price = Cheap Brand

Posicionamento pelo atributo do produto (preço)

Slower Less accurate

Cheap Brands = Cheap Prices

Price-based positioning


N e x t t i m e y o u t h i n k a b o u t y o u r b r a n d

Can I be the Gillette of my market category?

Can my brand help people adapt to environment? how?

What are the unconscious effects promoted by the positioning of my brand?


T O P O F M I N D

N O T E # 3



It is the effort to make a brand remembered.



To make information accessible and salient in memory.


Our memory operated in associative network.

When a node (a word, for instance) is activated, others are automatically activated as well.

Repetition increases accessibility and promotes System 1 usage.

Accessibility and salience are important because they can drive decision-making processes.


U n c o n s c i o u s E f f e c t s

Repeating a message has multiple effects that operate below our

levels of awareness. And sometimes we don’t even know how to

explain it. Like that one song that we listened on the radio once and

we didn’t like it. But after hearing it two or three times, we love it.


Repetição aumenta:

Perceção de Verdade

Repetition increases the truth effect

Repeated information is perceived as more truthful than new information


Repetition increases liking

Repeated information is more liked than new information. This is one of the most replicated findings in psychology.


What is my brand’s associative network?

What is the level of familiarity with my brand?

What arguments or ideias or pieces of information should I repeat?



C O N S I S T E N C Y

N O T E # 4



it is the cohesion that a brand has every time it

communicates.



It is everything people want and need in their lives.


W H Y :

We seek balance (homeostasis principle).

We avoid cognitive dissonance at all costs.

Basic human need as social beings.

- we are always looking for inconsistencies in others.


B r a n d c o n s i s t e n c y

Regarding brands, things get even more complicated, especially

now that they are so exposed in social media.

It only takes one bad move, to start a war.


When was the last time you read your brand’s Facebook comments?

When was the last time you thought you were somehow inconsistent?



I n s u m …


Next time you wear your brand’s shoes - whether if you have to make a board decision, talk to a colleague from another department, approve an ad campaign or answer a fan on social media, bare in mind that…


Nowadays, brands survive if they think of consumers as real people who:

Think using system 1 Expect a purpose from brands to make their lives easier

Need consistency in the world

Look for experiences made for people, just like me and you.