Leveraging the Sciences Behind Marketing

THE TOPLINE:

In today’s crowded marketplace, getting to the right marketing mix can be a real challenge.?

How do you first create a product with the right attributes and benefits for consumers??

How do you price it in a way that works for the consumer and the company??

How do you create a campaign around it that’s compelling??

How do you know that your offering has staying power and is not a one-and-done wonder?

You can’t create a successful mix based solely on intuition or even by deploying rudimentary methodologies.?There are sciences behind each of these aspects that help marketers gain powerful insights that will lead to successful outcomes.

THE TIDBIT:

Marketing has always relied on several sciences — psychology, sociology, anthropology, mathematics, and more. But areas like behavioral economics, neuroscience, sensorial science, and the science of anonymity have started complementing the traditional sciences. Substantial developments in these fields are having a profound impact on marketing.?

Marketers that are able to tap into these insights are at a distinct advantage.?These sciences are driving marketing to an entirely different level.

THE ESSENTIAL TRUTHS:

Let’s take a peek behind the curtain at some of the sciences behind marketing.

-???????As consumers deal with the barrage of marketing messages and brand interactions, we cannot explain their decision-making purely based on traditional economics or logic. The field of?behavioral economics?has been searching for better ways to understand how consumers behave when presented with numerous options.?

-???????With?neuroscience?and?biometrics, we can follow brain activity and facial tracking to measure the emotional impact of distinct moments in an ad, allowing us to learn what resonates and maximize its overall effectiveness.

-???????There is a huge opportunity for marketers to leverage all five senses to be able to cut through the clutter, engage consumers, and influence their choices and purchase decisions.?Sensorial science?can teach us how to effectively orchestrate the senses to stimulate the relevant parts of the brain via multisensory marketing.

-???????Psychology, especially in anonymous environments, has a direct implication on social media dynamics. When marketers better understand the underlying psychology and the dynamics of behavior under?anonymity?— how people behave differently when they can hide their identity — they will be better prepared to navigate their brand’s presence in today’s emerging landscape.

MY TAKE:

In marketing’s new paradigm, many existing theories, concepts and strategies will be totally upended. Navigating this highly complex, emerging landscape will require versatile, multidimensional capabilities and the ability to operate both creatively and analytically.?

Effective marketing requires leveraging art, technology, and science. As much as we focus on the rapidly transforming technology landscape and the importance of creativity,?we should not forget the sciences that affect marketing and the new developments taking place within them.?It’s important that marketers get this balance right.

LONG STORY SHORT:

The goal for marketers is to learn how and why consumers think, feel, and act in any given way — and how to influence their preferences.?

Various fields of science are evolving to help marketers in this effort.?They are a critical part of understanding today’s consumer. Marketers of the future should take note!