LIVE FROM #INBOUND22
I’m live at #INBOUND22 and one of the talks I was particularly excited about was a session with one of the world’s top advertising executives. Jeff Rosenblum is the founder of Questus, a multi award-winning agency that has worked with a plethora of prestigious clients including Apple, Disney and Amazon amongst others. He’s also the author of Exponential, the Wall Street Best Seller and the creator of the Naked Brand documentary, the Author of Friction.
Turning Fans Into Evangelists
Today’s talk delves into how iconic brands turn buyers into superfans and evangelists. Jeff shared his insight into how big brands inspire their audiences, enrich communities, and energise through empowerment. His theories are backed by neuroscience, cold, hard data and market research. Brands traditionally try to reach their consumers through creating interruptions throughout our daily existence.
These interruptions can take many forms – TV ads, online pop ups or marketing emails being just a few of their methods. These interruptions target our prefrontal cortex which controls dopamine production within our body. Dopamine modulates cognitive control, thereby influencing attention, impulse inhibition and prospective memory. But as these interruptions become more frequent in our lives, our “cognitive spam filters” are blocking it all out, limiting the impact of these traditional methods of marketing.
Adding Value With Each Interaction
But great brands don’t interrupt. They empower. And through empowerment, they enrich communities and energise people. In fact, according to a survey by Firms of Endearment, Brands which empower people, out-perform other companies by 8/1 over a 10 year period.
Rather than the addictive dopamine hit, releasing oxytocin, the trust chemical, is the ultimate goal, so that Brands can establish a lasting relationship with consumers built on transparency and trust.
The power has shifted from the brands to the consumers and those brands need to embrace transparency for consumers to trust them. People want to wake up each day a better version of the people they were yesterday., It’s basic evolution. Brands who empower are striving to help make that happen, by improving people’s lives one step at a time. Holiday firms try to improve the holiday experience for their customers.
Software companies endeavour to make online experiences smoother and easier for their users. To do this, companies really need to understand the consumer journey. Jeff points out that successful brands are consistent in their identity. Their brand message is woven through everything they do. Brands who deliver mixed messages are doomed to failure.
Creating Psychological Momentum
He then goes on to discuss psychological momentum. Psychological momentum is where small changes in behaviours lead to much bigger results. It’s about getting the neurons in our brain to fire in a synchronised way. Brands can do this by mapping out the customer journey and identifying the micro-moments that consumers experience.
By identifying and trying to provide solutions to the consumers’ emotional and physical needs, psychological momentum can be achieved. Creating engaging, valuable content can also increase psychological momentum and improve the buyer journey. Advertising in the traditional interruptive sense no longer has the cut-through that creating this psychological momentum does.
Summary
Traditional interruptive marketing no longer has a sizeable impact on consumers due to cognitive filtering. Understanding the customer journey is key to firing up the neurons that create the psychological momentum that is so essential to consumers today. To be a successful brand, you have to be committed to establishing trust with your target audience and seek to improve their lives and interactions with your product or service.
That’s no mean feat. Yet by having the consumer at the heart of all you do, you’ll see them turn from customers to superfans!