Unleash the less known

When Alia Bhatt taps her voice and feet on the punch line,?Acha hai… Ladki chala rahi hai, in the?Hero Scooty advertisement, the brand image of chutzpah and individualism is resonated by the girls willing to take up progressive positions and ventures in their lives.

Such associations by brands are the sine qua non of Implicit branding. At the outset, implicit branding is a type of branding that appeals to unknown/unsaid/subconscious preferences regarding customers’ brand preferences.

The world is a ying-yang regarding customers’ attitudes, viz — implicit and explicit attitudes. Implicit attitudes are referred to as attitudes that influence our behavior without awareness. Think of it as brushing your teeth daily! Explicit attitudes are those for which one has had the time to think before responding. Think of it as solving a complex math problem! These attitudes are driven by alternatives available at hand, experience, time to think, etc. Hence, these are not free from social desirability bias (a desire to be acceptable by peers) and anchoring bias (heavy reliance on the first piece of information).

Now, you would ask where are these biases created and nurtured?

As per the Implicit Attitude theory, the brain holds a complex neural network of associations influenced by experience and exposure. Most of the decisions taken by the consumer are driven primarily by the System 1 part of the brain as opposed to the contrary belief of heavy indulgence of System 2. Can you recollect this sobering realization when you go shopping for snacks, beauty products, cars, etc.?

To explore more on the topic, let us bring our very own five senses, especially sight, into the spotlight. Have you ever wondered how do brands select colors for their logo? Or the colors of their advertisement background? Or the colors of their mobile push notifications? Here comes color association into play. Our sensory inputs assist System 1 in thinking faster and more intuitive decision-making. For example, the blue color, which stands for trust, is used by HDFC to assure its customer of trustful banking.

Bumble uses yellow color in its advertisement to promote the cheerfulness and friendliness of online dating.

Similarly, green color is used by WhatsApp to foster harmony

In the book?Predictably irrational: the hidden forces that shape our decisions, Behavioral economist Dan Ariely notes that customers are less rational in their decision-making than predicted by most marketers. Not only are their decisions irrational but also, they are predictable. You can use this predictable pattern as raison d’etre to solve the confusion between the reverse herd effect and the value paradox.

A similar backing is provided by the author Seth Stephens-Davidowitz in his book:?Everybody lies about data;?Netflix learned a similar lesson early on in its life cycle; do not trust what people tell you; trust what people do. This knowledge will assist the marketers in separating the wheat from the shaft in the world of advertising congested by the desperate need for differentiation.

To help you relate more, let’s see another example of implicitness!

Don’t ask if your dreams are crazy, ask if they are crazy enough.

This line is resonated with?Nike’s commercial?featuring the greatest rule-breaking sportspersons of all time. Through this, Nike tried to venture into all the sports where some taboos were broken, limits were expanded, and history made. In synchronous with its tone of Just do it, the commercial was successful in capturing the implicit desire dedication, and perseverance of the sportspersons.

So, next time you see someone putting Nike products in their shopping bag or in their Amazon cart, you will know what is being processed in their System 1 of thinking, won’t you?