Imagine a world in which everything is tailored to you. Your can of Coke, the advert you pass by on your way to work, they have all been specifically designed to woo and tempt you to purchase it.

Ok, so maybe I am being a tad over the top. But, with the recent, exciting developments in Neuromarketing the industry is now able to understand and study people's motivations for purchasing a product or service, and then apply it directly back into their designs and work.

Imagine you are in a parallel universe in which Supermarkets stock products in twos. You take a stroll down the cereal aisle and spot your favourite breakfast choice. You pick the one to the left, leaving the one on the right. You made this decision completely of your own free will, right? Actually, in reality you have probably just been subjected to some very clever Neuromarketing.

Take Campbell's Soup. For years they have invested money into research and development, focus groups and lots more in order to discover what makes people choose their products. From these studies they ascertained certain aspects of their products and designs they could improve on, and applied them. They then sat, back and waited for the sales to increase. This didn't happen.

So, upon hearing of the new Neuromarketing discipline, which captures subconscious responses, they decided to give it a shot. After two years of studying every micro-detail of a person's response when shown their products, combined with deep interviews, they had their results.

The study revealed that customers became more engaged in their product when the soup was pictured in a modern bowl, with lots of steam billowing from it, thus giving the impression of warm, homely food. It also revealed that people had no emotional response to the spoon, which was in the original logo, therefore making it redundant. The logo was also made smaller and colour coded categories introduced. Et voila, new and improved designs which will trigger a higher emotional response from customers when compared to other brands.

Here's the science bit -

Neuromarketing is essentially used to find out what influences a customer to purchase or use a particular service over others. This is discovered by the application of neuroscience, which scans the blood flow and electrical surges in particular parts of the brain. This activity is subconscious. So, whilst we believe we are, say, choosing Tango over Fanta because of its superior taste, it may actually be because we are more emotionally responsive to the brand. http://neuromarketingresearch.com/

Marketers can then use this information and apply it to their PR, marketing or advertising campaigns.

In time Neuromarketing may completely revolutionise the way marketing and design works, meaning every detail is considered and given meaning. It provides us with an insight into people's motivations, a useful piece of information that has previously been incomplete. Considering a customer's emotional responses and connection to a product or service means a more tailored tactic can be achieved, providing a more efficient and cost effective approach, ultimately adding significant value to a brand's bottom line.