 |
Involuntary Brand Responses: Beyond The Conventions Of Language
By David Hanson, Pres. H2m
There is no shortage of definitions of what a 'brand' is,
and that’s because a brand is a ‘feel' thing far
more than a 'thinking' thing. To elucidate this line or reasoning,
we need to first revisit the science of language. Language
is a system of symbolic pointers that refer to things that
we have no idea of what they are in reality. Language is a
symbolic shortcut. Language also unfortunately cuts this seamless
reality we find ourselves living in, into a patchwork of supposedly
independent 'things out there'.. Of course, there really ARE
no independent 'things out there' surrounding us in here at
all We live in a universe..uni..a oneness.
For example, if we look out our window at a common phenomena
in the front yard that is tall, has brown-colored siding material
around a tubular trunk and has green thin things dangling
from it all over it which ripple in the wind, we name it,
for simplicity's sake, a 'tree'. Problems arise, however,
when we start to be fooled by this very same language trick
we have invented and begin to believe that a 'tree' is a discreet
'thing' out there that can exist independently from anything
else. In reality, there is no such 'thing' as a separate,
independently existing thing called a 'tree' at all. A 'tree'
is a phenomenon dependent on everything, literally everything
else in the universe for its existence. A tree cannot exist
without soil, without sunlight, without water, without proper
air temperature, without the right mix of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere, without the right combination of minerals
in the soil, without the solar system that includes our sun,
without the big bang that spawned the material that eventually
coalesced into stars and planets, including the earth we walk
and are able to look out from behind our our eyes and see
this phenomenon we have conveniently named a 'tree'.
That sound that we created and the visual letters we have
created that we use to name the phenomena we call a 'tree'
is merely a language construction that, by necessity, slices
and dices up reality for us so we can make our thoughts known
to others. Language is a convenient shortcut. Quite simply,
we can't use words very effectively to describe reality in
its depth. A sensation such as ‘sweet’, for example,
can't be conveyed in words because 'sweet' is an experience,
not a thought. Any other words we use to describe ‘sweet’
would just be other descriptors, and would not truly convey
any better what the experience of ‘sweetness’
truly feels like. It's very much like trying to describe the
color red to a person blind from birth. All we can do is use
words to point to things and hope that our co-humans experience
with sweetness is similar to ours so they can relate to us.
Now, let's connect the dots to the topic at hand; branding.
We'll need to do another thought experiment first. Look at
this:
What did you experience when you first perceived the mark?
Try to dig backwards –backwards to what you experienced
before you heard the sound “McDonalds” in your
head before the experience of hearing the name turned into
words and thoughts about the company. An experience is more
'felt' than 'thought'. If you examine your experience closely,
almost as an outside observer, you’ll begin to understand
that your first response to stimuli (the sound McDonalds in
your head) and your reactions to it are totally involuntary.
Science cofirms this. Are perceptions on emotional levels
and bio-chemical levels precede our cognitive functions in
time. In my case, upon hearing the sound 'Mcdonald's', I experienced
a sense of the color yellow, an instantaneous visual of an
arch, a flashing taste of a cheeseburger, a feeling of the
red cardboard French fry container and a slight taste of the
salt and a sense of the drive through line being slow…PLUS
a feeling of slight irritation at a passing feeling of the
red dirty floor at the main avenue location where I often
stop for a quick lunch. These were all instantaneous experiences
without any words or thoughts framing them. How can you put
the “feel” of the color yellow into words. It
all happened involunatarily before I thought about it at all.
Every one of these experiential elements arise for us spontaneously,
without our consent and before our thought processes kick
in. And here's the kicker: Every one of them count just as
much as the thousands of dollars Mcdonald’s spends on
an ad telling me in words and logical propositions about a
new menu item or their friendly service and cleanliness. In
other words, the memory of the experience of a dirty Mcdonald’s
floor weighs just as much in my brand experience as a $400,000
television ad telling me about how good the food is. Everything
speaks. Humans are emotional creatures. When it comes to your
brand, everything is interrelated, everything speaks. Words
are mere conventions. People will react to your brand involuntarily
no matter what you tell them about it in words.
Your brand is something people experience far more than they
think about. Make sure all the elements you DO have control
over speak well of it.
dave@h2m.biz
If you like this article, feel free to share it with your
own list, post it on your site, post it on your blog, or add
it to your autoresponder. As long as you leave it intact and
do not alter it in anyway. All links must remain in the article.
=========================
And include this at the end of the article.
=========================
© 2003-2005 H2M Inc. All Rights Reserved
For more insights into the psychology of advertising go to
www.h2m.biz today for
more BrandThink.
.
|
|
