A study led by Dr Eran Zeidel of UCLA has finally shown what many people have long believed: that recognition of brand names is an emotional short-cut. Brand names do not function like normal words and the brain processes them in a unique way.
The study arrived at this conclusion by placing students in front of a computer screen and flashing up various words either on the left side or the right side of the screen. The words consisted of ordinary nouns like table, non-words such as zorble and brand names like Sony. When the student recognised the word, they were asked to press a button.
Interestingly, although common nouns flashed on the right side of the screen and processed by the left brain were recognised more quickly than brand names, the brand names fared far better when displayed on the left side of the screen indicating that the right side of the brain (the emotional response centre) was highly involved in processing the word. According to Dr Zaidel, the rules that apply to word recognition do not apply to brands.
Other studies using brain scans such as MRI or positron emission show how the brain reacts to stimuli, and equally show that brand recognition occurs in the emotional centres of the brain such as the frontal lobes and not in the rational areas of the brain. As Princeton’s Jonathan Cohen concludes, models of decision-making cannot afford to ignore emotion as a vital and dynamic component of our decisions and choices in the real world.
Most of us working in the field of marketing communications are delighted that this new science of neuroeconomics is discovering what we have always believed: that brands exist in the minds of the consumer/customer and that they provoke at least as much of an emotional response as they do a rational one.
B2B repercussions
So what impact does this have on the world of B2B? After all, we all know that in B2B, buying decisions are much more complex, the decision making units are much wider and more varied and that our messages and propositions have to appeal to much more rational left brain sided instincts of our audience. Therefore the need to brand our B2B products services and companies is a lot less prevalent than in the simple world of selling washing powder, isn’t it?
The reality is that brands have always been important in B2B contexts and I would argue have become increasingly important. At our ABBA meetings much of the discussion and best work produced from members derives from their need to influence and promote the brands of their clients. So why is the concept of the brand becoming increasingly important for B2B marketing?
Well the first truth, that we have trotted out regularly, is that businesses don’t make decisions to buy things: people do. And while it is important to recognise that a person’s motivations and aspirations at work may differ from their home life, they are still people, reacting the way people do a person’s ability to respond to brands has evolved to new and sophisticated heights, therefore making branding in any context more and more important.
Secondly in many B2B areas, the scope for companies and their products to differentiate themselves from their competition has diminished. The way companies react to innovations, and the speed of communications means that the time a company has to be different through technological innovation is negligible. The only way to reliably mark themselves out as being separate and distinct is by having a strong brand. Technology has known this for a while and pours resource into showing how HP, for example, is different from Dell.
The broader branding picture
A widely regarded development in B2C is the issue of lifestyle brands. Consumers are increasingly knowledgeable and savvy and want the brands they use to enhance their own personal identities. Thus the development of concept brands like Apple and the reduction by the mega-brand companies of the number of product brands they support. This has a corresponding effect in business. For example, more and more businesses are paying attention to corporate social responsibility or CSR. They want to show the world that their corporate lifestyle is one of a citizen who cares about the world around them. This equally impacts on the brands with which they choose to be associated. So HSBC, who are very proud of their CSR image, will only associate themselves with brands and products that can enhance that image. Businesses, like people, have become careful about the company they keep.
So, while we must always pay regard to the need for rational as well as emotional arguments in our messages, we can never ignore the relevance of influencing, improving and preserving the brands we work with. We should pay close attention to the work that is going on in medical science, understanding how the brain processes brands, because brands have never been so important in B2B.
