Neuro-marketing: the individual, the brain and the brand

“I know I waste half the money I spend on advertising,” the turn-of-the-century department store magnate John Wanamaker is reported to have said. “The problem is, I don't know which half.”

This was then. The new technology now promises to address this issue with better targeted conversations. It took relatively a long time for the marketers, especially after industrialization, to understand the power of marketing and related activities. Even as the manufacturers of goods and services established their marketing departments, the activities were restricted to communication, viz., designing of internal & external communication, Above-the-line and Below-the-line advertising and organizing events during the launch of the products.

When the marketers were busy working on defining marketing strategies taking their vague market research findings and gut-feelings, a group of Neuroscientists were researching on understanding the working of human brain. These studies related to better understanding of our brain's decision making processes promises to have a direct impact on the ‘why' of the product positioning and the ‘how' of communication. Will understanding the human mind turn out to be a game changer for marketers? This paper explores how our marketing strategies will get sharper in their approach and reduce wastage with a deeper understanding of the working of the brain.