It’s been hard not to notice the massive branding efforts that Pepsi has put forth in the past few months. New cans, new logos, new ads. I’m intrigued to see how this affects their place in the market.
Image courtesy of Adrants
It’s not the first time that Pepsi has made dramatic strides to gain market share from it’s biggest rival (no, not RC Cola) – Coke. The classic example of neuromarketing research involved the Pepsi Challenge campaign of the ‘80’s. Researchers wanted to know why taste tests showed that most people preferred Pepsi, while Coke dominated the market share.
In short, we don’t always rely on logic to make our decisions. Many of our product purchases are triggered by emotion and how we feel about a brand. Therefore, you can say that many of us choose Coke, not because we think it tastes better, but because of its brand or the marketing behind it.
Before neuromarketing, this argument may not have carried much weight. But by using brain scanning technology, neuroscientists found that in the blind taste test, subjects were using the front lobe of their brain to logically decide which drink they preferred. However, when subjects were asked to choose a drink knowing which was Pepsi and which was Coke, the large majority chose Coke and used a different part of their brain to make that decision.
But who says our decisions and purchases have to be logical? Pepsi was assuming that taste is the only influence that drives a beverage purchase. As if there’s a large database in our brains that ranks the order in which we like the taste of a soda and that’s how we claw through the clutter. The fact is that many of our purchases are driven by emotion and that is why branding is so vitally important. In a market with many similar products – the best branding is sure to come out victorious.
I mean, is there really that much difference to a typical consumer between laptops such as Dell, HP, Sony, Toshiba, etc? Not really. One person might buy a Sony notebook that lasts them for years and the next person might buy the same notebook and have it bunk out in a year. The difference in who wins the market share is branding.
If you’re interested in reading more about neuromarketing, I suggest picking up Buyology by Martin Lindstrom. It’s full of terrific examples.
Will Pepsi’s new brand efforts make them more competitive with Coke? What are your thoughts on neuromarketing?
