Persuasion in Today's Media

Neuromarketing is definitely at the forefront of advertising today. With so many different forms of advertising being thrown at the consumer every day, a brand needs to do more than simply sell its features and benefits: it needs to tap into emotions. Neuromarketing is a great way to accomplish this, because it can help identify what potential customers respond to and what exactly drives their emotional responses.

In the video, a man was being asked about his emotional connection with white bread. Whether it makes him feel lonely, comforted, happy, sad, etc. Many people in our class found this humorous, but it is actually a legitimate concept. People hold connections and tie in emotions with many different products. I know that I had a difficult time making the “white to wheat” switch, because white bread made me think of childhood, packed lunches, and the comfort of home. If marketers could gain such insight, then they could develop some kind of strategy based on the idea of holding on to childhood with white bread.

On the other hand, if the man who was being questioned in the video responded and claimed that white bread did in fact make him feel lonely, perhaps marketers could take a different approach to tackling the advertising for a white bread campaign. For instance, they could develop some sort of approach that connects the concept of eating white bread with the idea of togetherness and gathering around with friends. They could even link this with the idea I stated earlier. An ad that connects white bread with childhood and eating with friends in the lunchroom, for example, may be a good way to tap into the emotions of a variety of different prospects.

Another subject discussed in the movie that I found interesting and prevalent in society is emotional branding. In a sense, the goal of neuromarketing is to achieve some form of emotional branding. I particularly enjoyed the example of the Cheerios commercial, because it truly is a perfect demonstration of the concept. Since consumers ultimately already know everything there is to know about Cheerios as a product, there is little need to dwell on the details, but rather skip straight to the emotions. I found this to be incredibly effective, and it is something that I, as an advertising major, strive to accomplish in many of the pieces that I work on.

I have found that car commercials sometimes use emotional branding as well. Different cars have different personalities, and these are often made clear. For instance, there was a Chevy commercial on the air in the past couple of years that displayed proud owners with their old Chevy pick-up trucks. These people obviously view this brand as more than just a car, but as a significant part of their lives. The commercial truly showed how by purchasing a Chevy, you are not buying a car, but gaining another member of the family.


A brand like Cadillac, on the other hand, has been reinventing itself over the past year or so. It is now marketing to a younger target, and is being viewed as a sexy, fashionable, and even sporty car. The use of celebrities such as Kate Walsh driving the car connect to the emotions of the viewers, because many would like to adopt the lifestyle of a celebrity, and perhaps they believe that by purchasing a new Cadillac, they are one step closer.


The last topic that I am going to talk about is the idea of creating a culture around a brand. I think that Sprite did an excellent job of this when they related the hip-hop culture to the soft drink, but I do not believe that it is all that relevant anymore. While Sprite may still be connected to hip-hop, I am confident that if one were to poll a group of 15-18 year olds today and ask the first word that came to mind when thinking of Sprite, hip-hop would not be the most common answer.

A current brand that is creating a culture around its image is Apple. I believe that the Apple campaign is incredibly successful, and has truly created a loyal following and culture of individuals who consider themselves to be Mac users. I personally am a Mac user, and I am not going to deny that I feel superior to my PC using friends. I have a sense of pride and loyalty toward Mac and Apple in general. Through the use of the “Mac and PC guys” featured in almost all of their commercials, Apple has given the Mac computer an identity that customers can relate to. While the PC is business like and stuffy, the Mac is cool, fun, and hip. People want to be like Mac. It’s a simple as that.