Find the bridge between a competitive intelligence (CI) and a neuromarketing. It is really interesting to watch how neuroscience can impress the battle between companies. Just try to catch much more customers, or make better campaigns, or just do the primary research with the big advantage. Do not forget – the neuromarketing should be a part of your company strategy. We asked Martin de Munnik, the founder of Neurensics - the first European neuroeconomic agency about his vision of connecting neuromarketing and CI

Can you remember some examples when company had beaten its competitor with a neuromarketing techniques?
Neurensics does neuromarketing research and expert opinion. We advise clients in improving their marketing efforts (packaging, pricing, design, brand, communication etc.). We see spectacular improvement of results in f.i response on mailings (400%), in Direct marketing sales (10% to 20% more), in campaign effectiveness (50% savings). Benchmarking with competitors is still difficult. Neuromarketing is too young to offer reliable data verified by f.i. Nielsen or GFK.

The advertising agency in our group laMarque has claimed some remarkable results using neuromamrketing insights from her ‘sister’ Neurensics:

• Chevrolet: 400% more response by changing the promise on a mailing based on end value: ‘No worries in the winter’ instead of ‘Free winter check’

• Organ donation tripled in response by altering the proposition from altruism to reciprocity

• Magazine cover of Cosmopolitan selected by our scanner increased sales with 10%

How can I recognize at a glance that my competitor uses a neuromarketing?
That is very difficult; and if you see it, it’s too late ;)

• If the message is based on an end value (Axe);

• If a commercial starts with the product and brand in an emotional way (Nespresso)

• If you see consistency in content AND form over years (Duracell, Gillette)
  
  

I want to implement the neuromarketing into my company structure – what investments can I expect?
Little investments are needed. It is a mindset. Accepting that all our decisions are made subconscious and on a pure emotional level. Act accordingly. There is a lot of expert opinion to be found on the internet. Experiment with it. Appoint a project owner. If you want to do neuromarketing research yourself, there is little expertise yet. There are a growing group of research agencies offering EEG possibilities (measuring basic impact of messages on the brain). Worldwide there are not more than a handful commercialized companies or institutes who offer state of the art fMRI. The average price of one research (on your brand positioning and how your campaigns add to that, benchmarked with 2 or 3 competitors) will cost you 70 to 100.000 euro.

One of the biggest discussions is, if a neuromarketing is the ethical process or not. I think that people would not like the exclamation: „We need you to buy more, so that we use a neuroscience against you“
Since mankind do business together they try to sell something, And selling is making things look better than the alternative. Marketing helps in this process. Marketing tries to make an offer fit to the client. Neuromarketing gives better insights in the consumer’s real needs. Showing a puppy or a baby in a commercial, using celebrities and so on is as old as marketing is. Neuromarketing only shows the (in) effectiveness. It makes marketing efforts pay off better. This profit can stay in the pockets of the company but at the end of the day the company will invest it to the benefit of the consumer.

One thing is clear in my mind: Our subconscious does not buy something that we don’t want. But neuromarketing can change your choices quickly and easy when your subconscious has decided you want something.

As a customer, can I defend myself against the neuromarketing or it is all about subconscious and therefore I am unprotected?
All our decisions are subconscious therefore also buying decisions. You can’t protect yourself from it. But not to worry.., you are your subconscious too! And your subconscious knows yourself better than your conscious does. Hence the fact that after 3 million years of making decisions in the evolution of mankind, we have been able to survive. This knowing that we have consciousness only for the last 1 million year. Our subconscious took the right decisions.

About Martin de Munnik

If you want to read more about the experiences and business achievements of Martin de Munnik, just visit his profile on the website of Neuromarketing World Forum or visit the website of Neurensics.

About Neuromarketing World Forum (2-3 February 2012, Amsterdam)

It is focused entirely on the emerging field of neuroscientific research, consumer insights and the application of the results within business. The aim of this conference is to bring together top neuroscientific research and commercial parties to discuss the key challenges and opportunities of using neuromarketing tools to enhance and add value to market research. The forum consists of two days and will be held in English.