Neuromarketing: What the Human Brain Means to Your Campaign

Description

The rise of loyalty marketing and consumers shifting to online media has put increasing pressure on traditional ad agencies and broadcasters to deliver measurable ROI to clients.

Advertisers who see consumers TiVo-ing through television ads and downloading their favorite shows for free are demanding real accountability. One of the most compelling arguments for loyalty and database marketing is that you can understand what you get in return for your investment. Agencies and broadcasters are searching frantically for ways to provide that same level of measurable return.

In February 2008, this demand for accountability led the $4.2 billion Nielsen Co., the world's leading audience-measurement company, to make a "strategic investment" in NeuroFocus, a neuromarketing company.

Neuromarketing, defined as the practice of using brain-scanning technology to measure marketing effectiveness, has applicability to the field of loyalty marketing and CRM in a number of key areas. But why should you care? One reason is to protect your turf. Even as we speak, neuromarketing companies are knocking on your CMO's door. Every dollar spent scanning consumer brains for their neurological responses to Super Bowl ads is a dollar not spent on data analytics and classic loyalty marketing.

NeuroFocus is merely one of a dozen or so companies that offer neuromarketing services to Fortune 500 clients. Neuromarketing companies fall into three broad categories based on technique:

fMRI scanning: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanners, weighing in at about 32 tons and costing about $3 million each, measure the level of blood flow to various regions of the brain, showing researchers where the action is.

The ability to provide location-based brain mapping is the primary advantage of fMRI scanning. When researchers expose test subjects to stimuli, they can see exactly which areas of the brain respond.

However, fMRI scanning is expensive—individual sessions ...

Original URL

http://chiefmarketer.com/crm/1027-neuromarketing-loyalty-brain/

http://chiefmarketer.com/crm/1027-neuromarketing-loyalty-brain/