Your brand's purpose has three parts

It's no longer enough to divide a consumer's motivations into practical and emotional.


We know from neuroscience that our reptilian brands trigger our initial response to any stimulus, and it's thought that our neocortex and our mammalian brain justify and rationalize our decisions.


Therefore, in order to appeal to the whole brain (including the brain in the consumer's gut), your brand's purpose needs to be a braid of practical, emotional and sensory elements.


We know sensory experience triggers emotions.

• Imagine nestling into a soft, down comforter.  What do you feel?
• Imagine smelling bacon frying?  What emotion is triggered?
• Now imagine hearing a woman screaming.  You have an emotional response to that, too, I'll bet.

Sensory experience is what EVOKES emotion in consumers, which is much stronger than describing emotion to consumers.


And, the sensory experience of using the product is what gives consumers "face validity" that the practical element is true.

The American Dream - 2012. Are you in it?

Consumers' dreams are precursors to where society is heading.


That's why we have created a way to ask consumers about their dreams.  Then we interpret what those dreams mean for marketers in the next 12 - 18 months.


Wondering if your consumers are dreaming about you?


Attend our webinar by emailing alexis.oddson@energyinfuser.com

Marketing claims are dead.

We marketers have co-opted claims so much that they are no have any currency with consumers.


Consumers simply do not believe the claims any advertiser makes any more.


We see this when we test claims for marketing communication.  Consumers say things like, "I'd have to know more about that" or "Depends on who really did the research."  What this means is, "Advertisers have lied to me so many times that I do not believe a single thing they say."


Consumers trust random strangers on the internet more than they believe a brand itself.


Learn more.  Email alexis.oddson@energyinfuser.com to attend our next webinar.

The Sensory Pathway to Emotional Response

Sensory stimulus triggers emotions.


Think of the smell of bacon frying.  The feel of your lover's touch.  The taste of orange juice.  The screech of brakes.


Each triggers a different emotional state.


Advertisers think they have to show an emotion in order to convey it.  Instead, they should use the sensation that triggers the emotion in the viewer/user.


Learn about the new American Dream.  Email alexis.oddson@energyinfuser.com to attend our next webinar.

The case for PURPOSE vs. POSITIONING

Did you know that positioning was created by Trout & Ries back in 1972?  Think about how far we've come from then in terms of technology and our understanding of how our bodies and world works.


And yet, we mostly fill out the same time-tested positioning formats and use benefit ladders for our marketing.


Consumers today are looking for brands, services, products and ideas that have a PURPOSE that is relevant and interesting to them.  In Clayton Christiansen's words, they hire products to do jobs for them.


And each purpose is a braid of functional, sensory and emotional tasks.  


The focus is on how your product can HELP the consumer achieve his or her larger purposes in life.  Not on how different your brand is from the other brand.


Learn more.  Attend our next webinar by emailing Alexis.Oddson@energyinfuser.com.

A spiritual revival?

72% of the people we talked to are relying more on spirituality than ever.


Particularly among people at mid life, there is a desire to shed the material and focus on what really matters.  As Peter, in his mid-50s said, "I can plan for my retirement or I can plan for a much bigger future... what happens to me after I die."

From Ladders to Trapdoors: No Way to Get Ahead

The traditional ways of improving our lots in life no longer work, according to 72% of the respondents we polled.


Tried-and-true ladders up the socio-economic scale have crumpled.  

• Owning a home now, in many cases, is a liability rather than a way to increase wealth.  
• Getting a law degree today means a debilitating amount of student debt rather than a ticket to a comfortable life style.
• Getting a "steady" job in construction or teaching now is shaky ground.
• Starting a new business is next to impossible due to the tight credit market.

As a result, consumers are relying more on themselves and their close-in networks (87%).  They're doing what makes them happy rather than doing what society expects (83%).  They're turning to faith and spirituality more (72%).

They're looking for steps to follow to improve themselves and their families, their communities.  

Is your brand providing direction and action?