Note: This is part 6 of a slightly deeper blog series that probes the depths of the brain in search of better marketing.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (adapted from 'Motivation & Personality' ©1970) Source: Wikipedia Commons, ©2010, used with permission
The decision that someone is a friend or foe happens quickly and impacts brain functioning…[I]nformation from people perceived as “like us” is processed using similar circuits for thinking of one’s own thoughts.
- David Rock
Is it important for marketers to connect on a social level with prospective buyers? What is the impact of being perceived as a foe? Come along and look into the amazing world of our brains at work!
In this post, I continue our comparison of David Rock‘s SCARF model of human motivation (Status Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness and Fairness) introduced in part 1) to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, including implications and examples.
Can you relate?
Relatedness—the brain’s desire to safely connect with others—is like Maslow’s Love/Belonging category.
No doubt about it…We’re social creatures. Accordingly, marketers create campaigns that associate using their products with a sense of belonging, being liked or even loved (remember the Oscar Mayer weiner jingle?). From family to friends and beyond, a feeling of relatedness helps explain the explosive growth of social media and mobile communications. Word of mouth has always been powerful, but—when combined with technology—it’s fast becoming a force that is rewriting the rules of marketing.
Studies by researchers at the University of Freiburg and the University of Zurich show that the concept of relatedness is closely linked to trust. In fact, there is a chemical in the brain that’s released when we trust someone: oxytocin, the same hormone associated with physical contact between a baby and its mother.
Through neuroscience, we’re discovering that relatedness is more important to the brain than Maslow hypothesized. In the absence of safe social interactions, the brain generates a threat response. And when we don’t trust someone, the usual response is to withdraw. (This helps explains how a single obnoxious salesperson can destroy the best efforts of entire product and marketing teams.)
Let’s take a look at the role of relatedness…and its implications for marketers—including examples.
Reach out and touch someone
Relatedness implication #1: The touch points of social conversations cut across many functional areas of a business.
From customer service to human resources, research to product development, public relations to marketing and sales, opportunities exist to gain insight, improve business practices and connect with customers and prospects. But friends—even friends who sell insurance for a living—connect with us in more ways than selling products.
Take-away: Coordinate internal teams to address incoming issues arising from social media, but also work together to participate in a broader sense.
Example: Last week I attended a presentation by Troy Janisch, Digital Marketing Manager for American Family Insurance. The company taps a closed, online customer community to conduct research and test new ideas before releasing them more broadly. This in itself generates some relatedness, but the company has a calling beyond selling insurance: to celebrate and protect families. Here’s where the coordination comes in…With spring break a week away and millions of families traveling, how can the company connect with customers and get a little PR at the same time? Answer: a quick survey of the top DVDs that will be watched on road trips. The results are helpful to parents and—with a little coordination—make for newsworthy public relations.
Let’s get hitched
Relatedness implication #2: It is easier to engage someone who feels a sense of relatedness.
Engagement can literally change the brain. Neuroplasticity researcher, Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, the author of The Mind and the Brain, finds that there’s power in focus and that paying close attention to an idea, activity or experience helps create lasting networks in the brain.
In his Marketing with Meaning book, Bob Gilbreath gives a good overview of some metrics that his company, Bridge Worldwide, uses, as well as resources for comparing performance and even translating engagement numbers into purchase potential.
Take-away: Engagement is the new metric of marketing, but also measure conversions, loyalty and even evangelism. Adjust and keep improving…
Example: Anheuser Busch created a popular advertising and video series entitled Ted Ferguson: Bud Light Stuntman. The company promoted a national tour where Ferguson visited establishments that serve the beer to literally connect with prospects in a memorable way. Here’s a unique engagement metric: Marketers tracked the number of “high fives” Ferguson gave to bar patrons. Answer: 54,537. Do you think many of these people told their friends about the experience?
Bartender, I’ll have another
Relatedness implication #3: A feeling of relatedness releases neurotransmitters in the brain.
Good marketers are like bartenders for the brain—masters of mixology. Recipe: Equal parts oxytocin, associated with trust, and dopamine, associated with interest and happiness. Serve shaken…not stirred!
Take-away: When marketers do their jobs right, they engage customers and create satisfaction, trust and loyalty.
Example: End Result Marketing builds rapport with customers of its clients by leading feedback circles, new product pilot programs and hosted networking sessions. (Many B2B marketers miss opportunities to increase relatedness by not conducting ongoing research with their top customers.) And my business colleague, Wendy Soucie, teaches organizations how to create policies and empower employees in social media outreach, plus she coaches trust agents to act on behalf of customer communities.
What do you do to make your marketing connect with customers?
You might also like…
What motivates us: new marketing and brain research (part 1 of 10)
NEW brain research part 2: Setting the record straight on Maslow’s theories
NEW brain research part 3: Become a marketing status symbol
NEW brain research part 4: Nothing’s certain but death, taxes and marketing
NEW brain research part 5: Autonomy and irrational decision-making in marketing
NEW brain research part 7: Life’s not fair for marketers
NEW brain research part 8: The marketing implications of Maslow’s hidden levels
NEW brain research part 9: Book review: Bob Gilbreath’s Marketing with Meaning
NEW brain research part 10: Book review: David Rock’s Your Brain at Work
Nurture marketing: a strategically superior alternative to drip marketing
The 10 golden rules of marketing white papers
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