Branding Influences Perception

Englewood, Colorado-based talent coach/media consultant Doug Erickson (303.290.8839) sent this to me and I share it with his permission:

Influencing Perception

It makes a difference how you deliver the news. This is an important point regardless of whether you're a parent, teacher, CEO, or advertising guru. Perception is affected by prior knowledge - whether it's branding in the case of Coke vs. Pepsi, or a placebo effect from people being told they were trying out a new pain-relieving cream: "...brand knowledge (at least in the case of Coke in our study) biases preference decisions and recruits the hippocampus, DLPFC, and midbrain...".

So, taste alone does not affect the choice of Coke over Pepsi - a preconceived preference "had a dramatic influence on expressed behavioral preferences and on the measured brain responses."

Find the study here: Why Branding Matters

Erickson adds: "You may not think that's revolutionary, but the PET scans of various brains proving something we had merely supposed prior to this, is big news.

"If your listeners are predisposed to like your brand, it will affect all of their perceptions about what they hear on your station.

"So how much time are you spending being obsessive about every aspect of your brand: every song, every promo, every sweeper and jingle, every break, every spot, every promotional piece containing your call letters, every live appearance?

"How often do you deliver when you talk to your listeners, when you interrupt their music to say something to them? You think they look forward to these interruptions because they know they'll hear something really interesting or useful or entertaining?

"It's all more important than we like to admit to ourselves. But a fact doesn't cease being a fact just because we ignore it.Make time to listen to your station, critically, obsessively, thoroughly.

"You have no more important work. Unless listeners aren't that important to you."