After an ample welcome coffee, Gaby Zimmerli, Managing Director of Ogilvy & Mather, greeted the guests in attendance shortly before 9 am. "Zimmerli opened the event and immediately admitted that he had been unreasonable in sending out a large number of invitations. Zimmerli said he had not thought that so many people would accept the invitation. One looked in vain for free seats in the seminar room.
Then Lutz Jäncke (pictured above), Professor of Neuropsychology at the University of Zurich, began his presentation. He wanted to introduce the "world beyond reason" and for this purpose the attendees - mostly marketing and communication managers - were the perfect audience. After all, the topic is part of everyday business. After some anatomical information on the brain, the brain researcher used various case studies to show that people do not act as rationally as is often assumed.
According to Jäncke, the brain cannot make absolute judgments, but rather orients itself to reference points, known as the anchor effect in technical jargon. Accordingly, identical amounts of money can be judged differently depending on the context. If one juggles with high numbers, the evaluation system shifts in the direction of the high numbers. If one deals with low amounts of money, higher amounts of money are incomparably more valuable. When buying a 200,000 franc Maserati, an additional 5,000 francs for a beige leather suite seems negligible; in another context, it seems like a lot of money. So decisions are always relative.
Brands work
Jäncke also demonstrated how decisions are driven by a number of unconscious yet powerful psychological influences. In doing so, he went into detail on the basis of the "on the effect of brands: If subjects are given Pepsi and Coca-Cola to compare in a blind test, i.e. in a neutral glass, they show unclear preferences. If, on the other hand, the Coca-Cola brand is pointed out, subjects prefer the corresponding drink and show stronger brain activity. The image of a brand thus influences people's perception of taste.
Jäncke illustrated the brain's enormous learning capacity with the coupling of emotions to cultural stimuli. This is part of the daily bread of those present, he said. Jäncke explained how quickly humans can learn to find "nonsensical things" interesting and even important. As an example, the brain researcher showed the "Blue Mauritius," an expensive stamp for which enthusiasts are willing to pay huge sums. For others, however, the stamp is simply worthless. Emotions govern us more than we would like, said Jäncke.
Finally, there was room for questions, with one of the attendees asking how often brands had to be presented in order to have the same effect as Coca-Cola in the experiment described. Until a brand is implemented in the brain in such a way, it needs very many passes, said Jäncke. A good closing word for Gaby Zimmerli and a good opportunity for advertising on her own behalf: "You see, it takes a lot to make a brand known."
(Gaby Zimmerli, Managing Director of Ogilvy & Mather, during her speech).
Surprised by the rush
Zimmerli was visibly satisfied after the presentation. Ogilvy & Mather held the event for the seventh time, but was surprised by the number of registrations this year. Thus, it was forced to cancel many interested parties. More than 100 people registered for both this event and the one in the afternoon, Zimmerli said. "I suspect it has to do with the breadth of the topic. It's personally interesting, but it also has relevance to communication." The unconscious, the unreasonable, met with broad interest, he said. Asked what she personally took away from the event, Zimmerli replied: "A lot. We always talk about the unconscious, we suggest. Through this presentation, I realized that we have a much greater impact than we realize." In a positive sense, of course, this can be exploited for the benefit of customers.
Isabel Imper
(Photos: Dominik Fricker)
