Matt Johnson's Blog, page 10

How Brands Can Tap Into Symbolism and Social Signaling

Key points for how brands can tap into social signaling:

In the consumer world, the dominant mode of communication is implicit. This is social signaling: things that consumers can’t say themselves, brands can say for them

Through deliberate branding, logos ...

The Key to Better Brand Communication: Interactive Alignment

Key points for how brands can harness interactive alignment:

As social creatures, humans have devised certain means of reducing ambiguity throughout the course of conversation

The most impactful mechanism is interactive alignment: we naturally, and unconsci...

Amplifying Brand Communication with Neural Coupling

Key points for how brands can harness the neuroscience of communication:

While 1:1 human communication is far from perfect, it’s generally successful. Brands can benefit from understanding the neuroscience that underlies this process

The most crucial concep...

Why Loyalty Cards Don't Work

Companies invest billions of dollars each year in loyalty programs. But do they work?

Beyond Brand Storytelling: Using Neuroscience to Create Essence

Key points for how brands can apply the neuroscience of essentialism:

Research in neuroscience suggests that we have a tendency towards psychological essentialism: we don’t just appreciate an object’s physical features. We also perceive it’s hidden essence...

How Brands Can Use The Neuroscience of Surprise

Key points for how brands can apply the neuroscience of surprise:

Research in neuroscience suggests a simple formula for harnessing surprise: A Good Experience + Surprise = A Great Experience

Brands can apply the “surprise formula” in a wide range of scenar...

The Power of The “True Why” in Brand Strategy

Key points for using The “True Why” test in brand strategy:

At the core of the brand strategy is the consumer’s deep, underlying, emotional motivation

Discovering this is difficult. But the “True Why” Test provides a series of questions to probe this

The pow...

Why The Neuroscience of Attention is Key for Branding

Key points for brands about the neuroscience of contrast:

The neuroscience of attention teaches us that there are two fundamental sources: endogenous (from within), and exogenous (from the environment)

Driving exogenous attention in the brain is all about...

What Marketers Can Learn From Social and Cultural Psychology

When it comes to understanding consumers, behavioral economics is just the start. Here's what else marketing can learn from psychology.

Wabi-Sabi and the Psychology of Imperfection

What can the ancient Japanese concept of wabi-sabi teach us about navigating the modern world?