A Subliminal Relationship is Not a Relationship

The first instance of subliminal advertising occurred in 1957 when James Vicary supposedly flashed the words "eat popcorn" and "drink Coca-Cola" across the screen at a movie theater. The words were only there long enough for viewers' subconscious' to recognize, and snack and drink sales shot up. Of course, this was all a hoax and Mr. Vicary had made the whole thing up. Since then, subliminal messaging has been a constant and controversial topic not only within the advertising industry, but around the world.

If this subject is so commonly discussed, why beat it to death with another blog? Because a combination of two writings have given me a new perspective on the topic. First is the recently published Advertising Age article, "Ignore the Human Element of Marketing at Your Own Peril". The authors, Bob Garfield and Doug Levy, proclaim 2012 to be the beginning of The Relationship Era; where "the new currency of commerce" is trust.

Second is a book called Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy, written by Martin Lindstrom, in which a series of experiments utilizing brain scanning technology sheds new light onto how your brain, whether consciously or not, effects the purchasing decisions you make. In the book, Lindstrom claims that people aren't really sure why they buy the products that they buy. He believes that "our unconscious minds are a lot better at interpreting our behavior (including why we buy) than our conscious minds are."

Lindstrom makes a very good case as to why this is true, but here's my problem with that finding: there's no relationship. If you buy a Coca-Cola because the store you're in is red and your subconscious links that color with the brand, it doesn't matter. Sure, it's a sale, but you don't know why. If your brand doesn't have a relationship with that consumer, the next thing you know they'll be in a blue store buying a Pepsi.

So, Corporations, I challenge you with this resolution as you enter into The Relationship Era: make sure every consumer knows why they chose your product.

If you give them a good reason to buy, odds are they'll do it again.