Brand Research to Unlock Subconscious

Brand specialist D/R Added Value has launched a new approach to brand research, applying principles of neuroscience to marketing. Emotional Brand Connections (EBC) will examine the impact brands have on consumers, and help develop 'more effective, clutter-busting solutions'.

EBC, which is being adopted throughout all D/R Added Value's 19 offices, measures the nature and intensity of the feelings aroused in consumers when they envision using a brand, following exposure to a brand stimulus such as an ad, a new product concept or a service experience. It then plots how different aspects of the brand experience make consumers feel and gives insights into better ways to connect.

Group R&D Director Mark Weeks, a driving force behind the new approach, explains: 'Most brands aim to be customer-centric, but many approach market research by asking brand-centric questions. We know from neuroscience that the way we make all decisions is by subconsciously selecting the option that makes us feel the way we want to feel... This holds enormous significance for advertisers because it tells them what matters to consumers, and even more significantly, what this means for creating great brands'.

Global CEO Angus Porter adds: 'Ultimately, it's not what brands say to people that matters, but how the brand experience makes them feel, which is why we think EBC will unlock many of the marketing problems that have eluded brands to date.'

The firm gives an example to illustrate the difference between how people feel about brands, and how brands make people feel. In a survey that asked consumers their view of Porsche 911 drivers, only 27% of respondents declared them to be 'cool'; but in sharp contrast, 89% agreed it would be their lucky day if they were given an unexpected chance to drive one.

The Added Value Group was formed in October 2004 from three leading agencies within the WPP Kantar division - Germany's Icon Brand Navigation, US-based Diagnostic Research and the UK's Added Value. The firm has 19 locations in 13 countries and is online at www.added-value.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.