Is Your Ad Campaign a Costly Mistake?

Understanding Consumer Psychology May be the Answer!

Marketers often feel that they are experts in consumer psychology. Yet, few actually are. And this leads to costly mistakes when they launch expensive media campaigns that fall flat or execute brand experiences that hit the proverbial wall.

Ever notice that only a few Chief Marketing Officers stay in their jobs for five years or more?

We will cover designing brand experiences in a future note. But, let’s talk about designing brand commercials for TV and online first. Why is it that many ads that seem so slick fail to drive sales and market share? In some cases, far from being engaging, commercials turn consumer away from the brand or elicit a gaping yawn.

So, what’s wrong? The culprit simply is a poor understanding of consumers. Ironically, in the last decade, there have been significant advances in the field of psychology and behavioral science. However, most marketers and their agency wonks have not kept up and are untrained in it. They feel like they know it — but feeling and knowing are two different things.

With television campaigns costing $50-$100 million per year easily, modern marketers would be well advised to take a step back and learn more about consumer psychology.

Not convinced? Well, let’s take a look at three recent brand campaigns — two train wrecks and another a question mark.