Branding as religion, sales without sex, and health warnings causing cigarettes cravings; marketing guru and author Martin Lindstrom’s latest release, Buyology: Truth and Lies About What We Buy, looks at branding from a scientific, process-based point of view, ruffling a few feathers along the way.

Lindstrom, who will be presenting his Buyology Symposium in Dubai in April 2009 (Now postponed – date to be confirmed), spoke to Communicate about the three-year, $7 million, one-of-a-kind neuromarketing research that looks at how our unconscious minds influence how we buy, how the industry has reacted to the controversial findings, and how he feels this region is faring in branding terms.

Why did you decide to undertake this research to write Buyology?
Because, first of all, no one is spending money on understanding what the power of branding is all about. It’s kind of been my duty to do that. I realized that with most of the research that’s been done it’s really difficult to ask people questions and get a truthful answer. This is not because they’re lying, but quite often they’re not aware of what’s going on in their brains and have difficulties expressing things. There must be another way to understand what’s going on. This study is 35 times bigger than any other study in the world; it looks into the whole psychology of our subconscious minds.
 

Tell us about neuromarketing.
It is very young, about four years old, and it is highly controversial. It’s the marriage between marketing and science, both disciplines that have been around a long time. One of the reasons I decided to write Buyology is because I wanted to start a debate around neuromarketing from an ethical point of view and to ask if this is plausible or not. We are scared of things when we don’t know what they are. I’ve always felt that instead of keeping yourself away from something, you should get into it. Figure out what the consequences are and create the framework around it. That’s exactly what I’ve done. I want to not only explore how to build brands, but also to be the first in the world to set ethical guidelines about what you should and shouldn’t do, and to find out if it’s possible to predict the future by looking into our brains.  

What kind of debate has it generated?
Actually, the debate has been pretty subtle, and not as heated as I had anticipated. It’s been centered around two factors. First, is it ethically correct? Secondly, are the results accurate enough, and can we really conclude what we’re concluding?
There are two different camps. The traditional, more conservative people in the industry say this is stretching things too far (see article, page TK) – but that camp’s fairly small. The other has said, “Thank God something new is coming,” because they’ve hit a brick wall and don’t know what to do, so this might be the answer. Even iconic people, like Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, said this is the future. Andrew Robertson, CEO of BBDO, endorsed it so much he’s bought 2,000 books.
I think the majority of the ad industry has been waiting for something new to come along. The reason people are critical is very simple. If you build an entire platform for 50 years based on certain information and then someone suddenly pulls the rug from under your feet, it of course causes some frustration.

How do cultural differences affect your findings?
There are enormous cultural differences, but what’s fascinating is how brain imprints are the same around the world; we have the same hardwiring. The difference comes down to cultural aspects, like religion and even local food preferences. Those are the factors that really make a difference in our brains in terms of what we prefer or what we are triggered by, and we should be aware of that.
Religion puts a different point of view on things. It’s non-predictable as people are wearing another pair of glasses and their view of life is changed dramatically. From a brain structure point of view, there is no difference – but when you wear those glasses, what happens, interestingly, is that you change your point of view and you see commercials in a different light. In the Middle East, religion is highly integrated into people’s behaviors; brands should be much more aware of the
elements which are so respected.
People in the Middle East are also intrigued by rituals. You’ll see brands are starting to adopt rituals into the way they treat themselves. In addition, senses are incredibly important in the Middle East, so brands today need to be aware of that and express sensory dimensions in more strategic ways.
Mystery and storytelling are also very important to build into the brand. Maybe a brand even has an enemy – a “them” and “us,” like Pepsi and Coke, Apple and Microsoft. Today we know that as human beings we prefer having a defined enemy because it defines who we’re not.

Can you give us an example of a successful brand?
The Olympic brand has more than 30 rituals built into it. If you had a choice between removing the logo and removing the rituals
that create the brand, I would choose the logo any day. What would the Olympic Games be without the opening and closing ceremonies, the torch lighting, gold medals, and all those incredible rituals which have created the foundation around the Olympic brand? It would not exist. There is a lot of mystery, history, a strong vision and elements from
the world of religion. Plus, the storytelling is amazing.

Any regional examples?
For Dubai, the most prominent brand is the Burj Al Arab. That building was an iconic message sent to the world that the UAE is not just a desert, that it’s so much more. It’s become an Eiffel Tower of the Middle East. It reflects a vision – who we are, who we’re not – and it’s highly sensory when you go inside. With this iconic symbol, the UAE has become a very strong brand. When you ask people what they recognize from the region, that’s what it is.
Unfortunately, there are very few powerful brands in the region. There is enormous space for new brands which are starting to leverage local power and elements of religion in a much more systematic way. I’ve learned by working with people in the region that they aren’t so conservative. Even in Saudi Arabia, I’ve found plenty of open minds. Of course, sometimes you hit a brick wall, but that happens in every country. So I think there’s enormous space for people in this region to build brands. The problem is that new brands are being released here, but very few of them are cutting through the clutter of information.

What about weak brands?
Those are the brands that forget we are human beings, like Microsoft. I want to stress that they’ve done incredibly well from a revenue point of view, but if you ask the average consumers, most of them do not understand the brand. Microsoft has become a daily pain for people to use because you can’t live without it and you can’t live with it. The human aspect has been lost, but their latest TV campaign is trying to change that image.
The problem is that it’s not human. When you contact the call center, you don’t reach a person. The software – with its 700 warning windows – causes a lot of pain. Brands have to be incredibly careful not to become too distant from the end consumer.

What are you expecting to see when you come to Dubai? And why did you choose to do the Buyology Symposium in the Gulf?
I love the Middle East. What irritates me is that it has been a forgotten place in terms of brands and people coming by. I’m a global person by nature, and I work in every country in the world. The world is not just American. Most of the studies that have been done and the books that have been written have come out of the US, which frustrates me.
What I really want to do, once I create a strong momentum around the world, is to visit the Middle East and share my knowledge – to make sure the region has a strong and fair chance of getting the latest and greatest developments, so it can be at the same level as other countries.
It sounds very visionary, and I guess it is. It irritates me to not yet see world-class brands coming out of the Middle East. That’s why I’m going there; I’m on a mission.