An Event Aimed To ‘Fascinate’
by Amy Phillips
The American Advertising Federation (AAF) welcomed Sally Hogshead, author of Fascinate and Radical Careering, as a guest speaker at the 2010 AAF Fourth District Annual Conference in Tampa on April 30th, 2010. As members of AAF Tampa Bay, we attended. The presentation and workshop following explored the subject of “fascination” and how it pertains to advertising messages that persuade and captivate.
Sally’s new book, Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation
Although an awful lot has been written on the psychology of marketing and related subjects—Seth Godin’s Linchpin, the Heath brothers Made to Stick, as well as several by Malcolm Gladwell to name a few good ones—Sally’s personable, humorous approach and disarming openness stands out. In an industry dominated by men, it’s great to see a woman making her mark as a leader in the field.
Overall, the new book, Fascinate, gives a fresh perspective to the traditional AIDA formula by examining how attention, interest and desire take hold in today’s sensory overload of cluttered advertising messages. What she presents is really an in-depth extension of long-held and practiced beliefs about effective messaging. Connect with people in real, emotional and personal ways, and you will win them over (i.e. fascinate them).
Speaker and author, Sally Hogshead is a brand innovation consultant having worked with clients that include Nike, MINI Cooper, Aflac, Cole Haan, Target, Coca-Cola and Godiva. Her accomplishments and insights have been profiled by The New York Times, NBC, ABC, CBS and MSNBC. She’s been described by the press as “intrepid” and an “advertising mastermind.” A sought-after speaker, Sally leads keynotes for companies such as Starbucks and Microsoft, as well as innovation sessions around the world. She spent 2006 touring the country as a motivational speaker for CareerBuilder.com.
Psychology of Color
by Kathryn Clark, Art Director
Color—a difference of a few shades can stimulate, depress, provoke, soothe, and even make us shiver or sweat.
In fact, according to a study at Washington State University, people who are surrounded by the color green can endure more pain, and recover more quickly from surgery using fewer drugs.1 Pink, on the other hand, has been shown to have a subduing and calming effect on violent prision inmates.2
If color is this powerful, what is it saying about your brand?
Here are a few of the ways color can influence brand perception:
• People will make riskier bets and gamble more under red lights as opposed to blue lights. This is why you see so much red neon in Las Vegas.3
• Being in a blue room can lower your heart rate and suppress your appetite. Red and yellow have the opposite effect—which is why so many fast food restaurants use these colors.4
• Yellow and red are also the best selling candy colors. Dylan Lauren, the owner of Dylan’s Candy Bar in NYC says that “Yellow is nostalgic, and red is passion. It makes people hungry.”
• Recent studies suggest that nearly all sports are enhanced in blue surroundings—including weight lifting. This may be because people tend to be more calm and focused in a blue environment.5
• Purple stimulates the area of the brain used in problem solving.6
• White pills are the most effective at soothing ulcers, even if they are merely placebos. Green tablets reduce anxiety, antidepressants are best in yellow and blue ones make the most successful tranquilizers.7
While the response to color is altered by personal and cultural experiences, many are universal and can be used for more effective brand positioning. From the office to the candy store, from your house to the grocery store, color affects our lives in amazing ways. Why not harness this power for your brand?
Psychology of Branding
The connections between marketing and psychology are particularly interesting for an agency such as ours with the brand promise, “The Power of Perception®”
The Branding Strategy Insider recently ran an article called Creating The Brand Halo Effect. The halo effect refers to how a product—through effective advertising, promotion and acceptance in the marketplace—takes off in sales, not only for that particular product, but for products associated with the brand.
The article uses Apple’s iPod as an example of the halo effect. In 2005, the company concentrated advertising dollars heavily on the iPod; however, their overall sales went up 68 percent from the year before. The big news here is that this jump wasn’t only from iPod sales, which accounted for 39 percent; but the other 61 percent of their sales, which came from computers, software and other services. By placing the spotlight on the best product or service from a given company, audiences form certain understanding or perception of an entire brand.
Putting most of your marketing “eggs” and advertising dollars in one basket may not be an easy idea to sell in the boardroom. But focusing on the best horse may increase sales in other areas.
The article also mentions how imprinting is an important concept in both marketing and psychology. In psychology, imprinting describes rapid learning that occurs on a subconscious level. In marketing, the first brand in a new category is often imprinted in audiences’ minds and percieved as more authentic than others. Examples of first brands are Kleenex, Hertz, Heinz and Starbucks.
Carefully managing perceptions to increase the value of brands has been PeakBiety’s focus for years.
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