Advertisers can make Disney World even more magical
Image by Roy Erickson, Flickr Commons
No doubt the relationship between brands and our memory is inextricable. But I just read a study that suggests it’s only the very high level, sweet love of brand essence that sits in of minds. The details are iffy. And interestingly, marketers can help shape those sweet memories, too. Researchers at the University of Nevada are testing the notion that advertisers can manipulate brand love a lot more than originally thought. Marketers can actually control your flashbacks…whoa. They wanted to know what would happen if they “implanted memories into consumers’ minds of things that never occurred?”
The researchers presented a Disney World ad to test audiences that invited them to remember the characters of their youth. Audiences that were shown the ad were significantly more likely to recall meeting a favorite Disney character than those who didn’t see it. So what, right? Well…it gets better.
See this Disney ad was completely fake. While it showed beloved Disney characters like Goofy and Mickey, it also showed Bugs Bunny. Not a Disney character at all. Funny thing is about 16 percent of viewers subsequently claimed that as a child they shook hands with Bugs Bunny at a Disney theme park. Repeated exposure to the fake ad increased the intensity of false memory recall. When asked to give specifics about meeting Bugs, 62 percent recounted shaking his hand. More than 25 percent specifically recalled him saying, “What’s up, Doc?” Particularly funny since everyone knows Disney characters don’t speak.
So, our memories are imperfect. We desire to live in that awesome land of, “Less filling, taste great.” It’s this imperfection of memories that allows us to believe Old Spice is cool again. Because we want it to be cool so badly. Manipulation? Probably. But I believe it proves to marketers that a consistent brand message over time is paramount. While product specifications tend to be forgettable, it’s the sweet spot that tickles the consumers’ emotional response.
Comments
Very interesting post Todd.
Aside form the fact that the idea of implanting memories is sooo Inception right now, it brings up a great example of how brand love may be shallow or deep but regardless it opens the door for it to go wide.
My only hope is that the wrong type of marketer doesn't latch onto this and say, "See! See! I told you blasting out repeat exposures of my message is the right thing to do!" This general advertising strategy will not work without repeated brand love exposure.
Sp in the end its quality coupled with quantity not just quantity right?
Thanks Greg. You touched on a pretty major undercurrent that space didn't allow me to get into.
The gravitational pull of brands has a major impact on our memory. The Disney ad example is loaded because of the bazillions of dollars they've spent to convince us that "Magic equals Disney." If subjects were shown an ad for Hershey Park including Mickey Mouse, would they have bought that? I doubt it.
You're exactly right that marketers can't be to confident that over exposure will drive the brand essence. It has to be done right. Otherwise, all ads would sound like, "HeadOn. Apply directly to the forehead," repeat, repeat.
By the way, I wrote about that phenomenon too. www.capstrat.com
Thanks for the comments.
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