The Faith of Brand
Posted by Jeff Broudy on Tue, Aug 17, 2010 @ 01:58 PM
We all want to feel like we belong to give us grounding in this intensely moving world. According the latest neuromarketing research outlined in Martin Lindstrom’s book, “Buy-ology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy”, the same regions of our brains light up when strong feelings about religious faith are reinforced as when we are confronted with familiar strong brands.
He is not suggesting that making your brand buy of Coke or Hefty Bags is the equivalent of a religious experience however, he notes that when we sense that there are too many options and lack of control, we retreat to comfort of something we know and can count on. The rituals of religious practice provide this as does a known brand. Both cut down the cultural clutter to something manageable and can be counted on.
Those of us who work in the motivation, engagement and incentive industries know that a key to success is a well perceived brand as that is what keeps our audience engaged and successful. Through the power of brand comes the desire of recognition within it and it is from this place that rewards should be focused. Recent research by the Incentive Research Foundation, Human Capital Institute and Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement is capturing metrics that demonstrate the power of a culture of recognition.
When a culture of recognition becomes the brand, we allow our audience to feel in control and reinforce the comfort of belonging.