The era of Neuromarketing?! (2)

Although the majority of neruoscientis said that we cannot directly see activity in the brain’s reward areas or emotional centers, most neruomarketers believe that EEG (electroecephalograph) provides real-time information and can be used to discover hidden information about we true wants and desires. So does it work?  it is hard to say for sure.

Companies that make consumer products, like Procter & Gambel and the Campbell Soup Company, are increasingly adding neruomarketing to their market research armoury. They believe that EEG can predict what will sell in a more direct and objective way than just asking people.

It sounds a great idea for market research, especially in product development stage. Companies can have better understand what people do want and can address those needs. However,  some people think it will be used to entice people into busying things they do not want, do not need or cannot afford.

Actually, there is no right or wrong to use this technology in market research. Even there is no ‘buy button’ in the brain and no one can influence your decision making. Neruomarkting perhaps, is just a new geeky method to analysis market easier  in this informatics world.

The era of Neuromarketing?! (1)

Remember the last thing you bought recently, have you thought why did you pick this item, rather than others? It may have been because they manipulated you  mind. when you saw the package of this item, your brain was instantly drawn to it, focusing your attention on the images, cranking up your emotions and making you think, ‘buy it’

Traditionally, marketers had relied on questionnaires or focus group to gauge how consumers will respond to new products. although these tools has their strengths, they share one fatal weakness: it depends on who you ask and the answer will not  same in the second time. Actually, much of the decision-making process happens at a subconscious level, according to Gregory Berns, a neuroeconomist at Emory University in Atlanta.

Neuromarketing is the marriage Neuroeconomists with Markters and it is the way to extract this hidden information directly from people’s brains. It records responses at a deep subconscious level and analyze what is going on inside our heads when we make economic decisions.  With EEG trace, it can reveal the three things that market researchers really need to know: ‘ Did you pay attention? Did it elicit emotions? Was it memorable?’

So does it work? will it sounds like the consumer society gone horribly Orwellian? We will discuss this topic more in the next one.

What is in Your mind.

We all have 24 H a day and 7 days in a week and deduct the time we spend on meal, traffic, shower and sleep, what do we do in the rest time and are we productivity enough? If we all think we work harder than others, why we are not as successful as  other success business men/women on TV? Some said the difference between success people and have not success people is about ‘thoughts’.

If we analyze the brain between employees’ and bosses’, we can see what they are thinking in their daily job.

Take a normal employee as an example, all he/she think might be how can I get promotion, when the Friday is coming, how can I get more salary, when I have vacation, some gossip in office and even what I am going to eat for lunch.

On the other hand, what does boss generally think in a day.

How can I get more money, where I can gain more profit, does this idea can bring me more money, should I invest this, what strategy I can use for earning more and how to reach more customers.

From my point of view, the difference between being normal and success is being normal person is thinking about personal issue mostly and the later is thinking whole picture. Moreover, we can see the different result from what they behavior.

Of course, there are different definition about ‘success’ and you might have your own definition. But just in general term, this analysis can prove the difference between what employee think and boss’s. So what is in your mind and are you see yourself as employee only or boss?!

Space between SEO and Actual Sales

Search engines are the way in which 90% of people locate the internet resources they need and 15% of sales in British economy are made online. More importantly, 85% of searchers never make it past the bottom of page two of Google. But does it mean  that high-ranking on Google equals high sales rates?

One of my colleagues questioned me and just like million of people are wondering does marketing activities bring actual  3 customers  per day into my shop and buy products? Apparently, there is no one answer for these yes/no questions. But no plane no gain.

Without any efforts, can you expect any business in? Without any  exposure, can customers recognize you? So why we only focus on “fast payback”  business and forget about “long-term” enterprise.  Sales is very important but marketing can make sales much easier.

A Successful Negotiator.

Have you ever met any your client refuse a discount or concession on the basis that it isn’t in the best interest of the supplier? The answer is, I assumed, ” NO”. So why do you give up your rights or best possible deal for yourself.

Negotiation is an interaction that “occurs when two or more parties attempt to agree on a mutually acceptable outcome in a situation where their preferences for outcomes are negatively related”. Thousands of business books are written about negotiating but actually negotiation is never the same twice. The situation, issue, people and even mood will change.

Although negotiation can be varied, some basic principles can be followed.

Separate the people from the problemsbe soft on the people but hard on the problem

Focus on interests, not positionslearn to look behind positions for interests, some of which you may share

Invent options for mutual gainthe beauty of brainstorming

Insist on objective criteriato identify possible measures of fairness

implementation if necessary, write down agreed dates and be the one to write down the detailed information.

product Features with Customer Benefits

The “what products say” era is disappearing because although it might meet customers’ basic demands, it cannot satisfy their deep needs. In contrast, “how products say” is focusing on how products can touch customers’ hearts, not only in the function of products.

When car sales said, this car is different from others because of 5 speed manual gearbox and power assisted steering. How many people really understand what does these features mean? Perhaps we understand what it mean but how does it related to my needs?

The nature of  successful sales men/women should be making customers’ decision-making easier. when we list all the product features, we should also note the benefits from these features for customers. For instance, You will save 50% of petrol if the car with 5 speed manual gearbox.



Turnover forecasting

The gap from a beautiful idea into a commercial product seems not really complicated, it will never achieve without strong business network and technical supports. Actually, 85% of ideas are dead before commercialize, according to market research.

The most difficult part in writing business proposal  is forecasting this “IDEA” how many units will be sold and how much will be the first turnover? The problem is nothing really can be predicted in this business world, no mention about  to predict sales rate for an ” idea”.

However, the business plan is not plan if there is no forecasting. Most business experts will suggest that reasonable assumption from up to down or down to up is  an essential key. For example, how many existed products sold per year and  assume  how much percentage of market your company can occupy? On the other hand, 90% of business experts do not believe forecasting but they just want to know how much homework do you do for your business idea.

So. Be brave and just forecasting.

E.X.A.M

Just like an exam in the real life, it makes most people emotional, anxiety and even make our blood run cold. What if this exam happen in your interview and you really want to get this job?!

EXAM is a film and shoot in 2009. It describes the whole exam process during interview and only one question need to be answered. In this final interview, they are all high educated people. The rule in this interview is that they should not talk with security guide or boss, otherwise, they will be disqualified.  However, the exam paper was completely white. They started talking and figure out what the question is. But the problem is there is only one job vacancy.  From cooperating with each other to distrust each other, even kill, they could not manage to find any clue in the last minus. In the end, the winner  is the one with a keen eye for detail and find out what the question is.

Most of time, we believe that our abilities can contribute a lot and the company will gain maxim benefits from us. And the company should give us a chance to work for them. We forget that we need to distinguish the difference between these qualified people and us by ourselves. During interview, do we really understand what the interviewer said, not the language comprehension but the meaning of his/her words. Do we pay attention on what we say or how we behavior. Sometimes, the winner might not the most qualified person, but the most detailed person.

Business Lesson

Too many so called advisers or experts in this small business world. Seeking any feedback or suggestion from rich-experienced people is the essential thing to do when you start-up a business or project. However, different people have different opinions and most frightening thing is, the perspective of business advisers are totally different.

When you fly first time, as a new bird, you want to gather as much as information to ensure that you will not fall. But some birds with  rich-experienced said that you should fly without look down. On the other hand, some asked you to look every angle when you fly.The more information you collect, the more panic you have.

Who should you listen to? Who should you go for it. They are all right and they are experts in this field. The problem perhaps is that your question do not lead them to the right answer.

Two things come in the same time, never 1 by 1

Just scratched my head while I was thinking this problem, another thing shows up. It seems that time is never being sufficient and things will never end.

If we divide all  things into 4 categories- important but not emergency, emergency but not important, important and also emergency and neither important and emergency.

To set the goal or to do exercise is very important but not the thing we must do immediately. Someone asks for help or answering irrelevant calls are not important to us but quite emergency for that person. Dealing with your clients problem is important and also emergency. However, polishing nails in the work hour is neither important or emergency.

Most situation, we are dealing with “emergency but not important” issue and this kind “issue” usually comes with two in the same time and make us exhausted. After few hours pass by, we figure out we have not done anything for ourselves.

” The most successful achievement comes from the time you spend on mostly” said by a time management master. So what is your sequence  of dealing with things?!