Oh what we will do for love! and the wonderful rush we feel each time we fall for love, new and old.
While we have been conditioned to believe that love is in the heart, it is actually in our hormones. Each time we fall in love, or experience the joy of discovering that a loved one, loves us, our bodies actually produce a hormone called oxytocin which gives us that warm, excited rush that makes us feel like we can take on the entire world and win! This feeling makes us more open to others, to taking chances, to splurging, and spending more than we would otherwise. Many marketers know this and spend countless resources attaching their non-love oriented products to love in order to create that hormone release that often motivates us to throw judgement out the window and live for the moment.

Beyond the powerful effects of oxytocin and consumer behavior, our bodies react to other hormones in similar ways. When we feel connected to others, important, we release other hormones that drive our behavior and thoughts. When we receive messages of hope that override feelings of despair or frustration, we again experience chemical changes in our brain that affect our reasoning. Religious efforts are a great example of how this happens daily in our lives. When we hear a sermon that our trials will be resolved and joy restored to our lives, we get feelings of hope, courage and anticipation of the reward. We then seek to follow the path set forth by the messengers, and feel "inspired" to stay the path they are leading us toward.

So the question becomes, when are we reacting to hormonal releases triggered by powerful presenters of messengers, or true inspiration derived from a source greater than those on earth?

Share your thoughts on this powerful concept...

How "Individuized" are your customers? Applying Jung's theory to marketing.

Although Carl Jung might be best known for his theories on introversion and extroversion, we marketers need to take note of Jung's theory of Individuation. Also known as his Self-Realization theory, his premise that throughout our lives we really project four different personalities, provides marketers with a good framework on how to address, and when to address, the different priorities, perspectives, and values of our individual customers. Jung maintains that when we hit our mid 30's, our values shift from one of materialism, and self-focus, to those more aligned with defining our life's mission, and that as we get into our even later years, our focus becomes altruistic and on our life's legacy.

Jung also, like other psychologists, teaches that most of what we do is unconscious, and that our psyche is really one of mass confusion. If this is the case, as other psychologists agree that it is, we need to adapt our marketing messages to appeal to the unconscious mind as it changes for each of Jung's stages of our individuation in addition to the changing influences of the generations consumers pass through in their life cycle.

Complicated? To say the least, but when we marketers study how the human psyche works, rationally and irrationally, we get a much better window into what we need to do to adapt our brands to adapt to the ever changing and oh so complex consumer.

Some great resources to help you understand the unconscious drivers of the consumer mind include, "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahnemann, "Drive," by Daniel Pink, and of Dan Ariely's, "Predictably Irrational."

Please share your thoughts on Jung's theory of Individuation and how marketers can embrace it for success.

Clearly I am no better than the plumber with the leaky faucet as I'm the marketer that helps clients stay current on their blogs, but don't seem to do it well myself! That will change...so thanks for following my blog and staying patient. There is a lot of wonderful new developments every day for those of us keyed into psychology based marketing. New research, new thinking, insights and more as to how this complex human brain we use and target every day works. I plan to be much more vigilant in sharing what I learn and observe daily.

This week, I"ve spent meeting with a client in Portland Oregon. I quickly understood the fascination with the TV show, Portlandia and the slogan, "Keep Portland Weird", both in a good way of course. But as I observed the long line that wrapped around twice in front of the VOO DOO DOUGHNUTS store on 3rd street, I was reminded just how strong human curiosity is. I think its safe to say that this line that had to be about an hour long for doughnuts in the middle of the day was made up mostly of tourists whose curiosity got the best of them. Really? How different can doughnuts be? At some point, the dough, frosting and toppings are just not that different than what you might find yourself. But you hear about VOO DOO's doughnuts and how their names and shapes and food decor make this an "adult food store" and you just have to go and see it for yourself. Curiosity drives behavior like few other mental states do. We want to see, feel, and experience something ourselves, to see if it really is that cool, and so we an elevate our own sense of belonging or cool, which directly relates to our unconscious high gear driver of acceptance and status. Topic for another blog another day.

So to you my business colleagues and friends...what brilliant ways are you creative curiosity around your brand? With most marketing trite and cliche, curiosity is the new ROI.

Share your thoughts and thanks for SHARING this blog with your friends.

Consumers Vote Everyday

Although today is a critical day for voting in America as we cast our votes for the ideology that we personally believe reflects our values, we consumers cast similar votes every single day. Our unconscious mind might decide immediately upon glancing at grocery shelves what products we are attracted to, but our conscious minds ultimately drive choice. More than 80% of consumers polled recently consciously choose the brand that is most engaged with community and social issues, and does the most good for others. We vote with our purchasing dollars and our loyalty and our word of mouth many times every single day.

As you move into 2013 with your new marketing programs and messages, consider yourself on an election campaign. Share your values, your passions, and what you stand for. And give people a reason to vote for you daily, and share your story with others yet to cast their purchasing votes.

Make it a great day as you vote today for our country's leaders and for the brands you believe in!

Another great day at DMA12 in Vegas. Today, David Fisher, a VP at Facebook, presenting some interesting facts Consider these:

2.5 billion content items shared every day
2.7 billion likes every day
300 million photos uploaded every day
600 million have Facebook mobile

Wow...we are totally living online and then some! Facebook also revealed new programs designed to help marketers better track what people like and find people that "like" products in your category. Hmmm....interested implications for marketing and privacy on this initiative. Something for us all to think about.

Your thoughts on FB tracking our likes and sharing our names/pages with marketers?

Stay tuned for more tomorrow,
Jeanette

Great first day at DMA12 in Vegas. Direct marketing continues to rock the industry like no other show can. The CEO of the Direct Marketing Association announced that in the past year, direct marketing totalled $8.7 billion in expenditures, $2 trillion dollars in sales revenue generated, 9.2 million jobs, and accounted for 53% of ad spend. Its exciting to be part of the marketing segment that is growing the fastest and generating the most business. Today's sessions backed up these exciting statistics with numerous examples of how personalized, relevant marketing utilizing all channels, from print to mobile, and making big things happen worldwide.

Email me for information on the hottet topics and trends being discussed here at DMA12.

Jeanette - jeanette@e4marketingco.com.

Gearing up for Biggest Marketing Event of the Year! Who's with me?
October 13 - 17, the Direct Marketing Association will be conducting DMA12 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  As a member of the Program Advisory Board, I could not be more decided.  This year's content is leading edge, thought-provoking and research rich, enabling all attendees to see our world of marketing in a critical different light.

On Wednesday, October 17 at DMA12, I will be speaking on Psychology-Based Marketing - Triggering the Unconscious Mind.  In this session, I'll present some key fundamentals of how our unconscious mind works to engage us with a marketing message, graphics, images or send our minds running away from it.  I'll cover the psychological affect of color, fonts, and offers, and how the tone of impacts response rates.  Additionally, I"ll show you some successful campaigns that generated results as high as 640% more revenue that control pieces and give you a good understanding of how to change the way you market when you get back to your office.

For more information on DMA12 in Vegas, visit www.the-dma.org, and sign up today!  It will change the way you market your brand, and the results you generate.

And look me up when you get there...Text me at 970 390 6909 or email me at jeanette@e4marketingco.com.


If you can't make it, email me anyway so I can send you a summary or white paper on this topic and help you discover just how much the MIND MATTERS!