I'll share a few of the techniques in later posts, but I wanted to share some surprising facts that give you an idea of how powerful branding is. In blind taste tests, 51% of people prefer Pepsi over Coke. But in taste tests where they can see what brand they are drinking, 65% of people prefer Coke. They also did brain scans of people while they do the taste tests. During blind taste tests, people's brains did not light up when they drank Pepsi. During blind taste tests, people's brains did not light up when they drank Coke. During taste tests when they knew what brand they were drinking, people's brains did not light up when they drank Pepsi. But during taste tests where they knew what they were drinking, there was increased brain activity and parts of the brain lit up when they were drinking Coke.
The fact is, in spite of being full of sugar and caffeine, people associate Coke with peace and refreshment...and have for decades. The brand and the marketing are so powerful, that people perceive Coke a certain way and have a pleasurable reaction to Coke that they can't have to any other product. I found out that branding is not about slogans or logos. There are so many powerful dimensions to it, and if you use certain psychological tools and techniques, people will actually create an emotional connection to your brand. Hopefully I'll have time to post more about this later.
