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The Herman Trend Alert August 26, 2009 The Neuroscience of Marketing A pioneering study on Neuromarketing will change forever the way marketers and advertisers promote their goods and services. The field of "Neuromarketing" provides a scientific basis on which to make sound advertising decisions, using research about what we know works. Conducted by Brand Futurist and Advertising Guru Martin Lindstrom, this study took three years and seven million dollars of his clients' money to complete. Some of us, who for years have believed the party lines that "sex sells" and "engendering fear turns people off", are in for a big surprise. Examining over 2,000 subjects in the United States, England, Germany, Japan, and the Republic of China, and using some state-of-the-art machines, including Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) technology, Lindstrom exposed his subjects to advertising messages then watched what happened within their brains. What he discovered was fascinating. In fact, sex does not sell anything. Actually, it distracts consumers from the intended messages. So using members of the scantily clad men and women to sell products and services is not the best use of advertising dollars. On the other hand, fear does sell. At least in the case of smoking and the warnings on packages of cigarettes, we humans are attracted to the source of our fear and are then stimulated by it to consume more. So those ghastly pictures on cigarette packs in Canada, Thailand, Australia, Brazil----and soon the U.K as well. These gory, real-life, full- color photographs show images of lung tumors, gangrenous feet and toes, and the open sores and disintegrating teeth caused by mouth and throat cancers. What Lindstrom found was the more disgusting the picture, the greater the stimulation of the part of the brain that causes craving of the offensive substance. All of this ground-breaking material is found in Lindstrom's bestseller, "Buyology---Truth and Lies About Why We Buy". Originally published by Doubleday Business almost a year ago, the 256-page hardcover book is available in twelve languages, including Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish, and Russian. Expect more marketers to embrace Lindstrom's brilliant work and to build campaigns on what we now know works to stimulate consumers to buy. © Copyright 1998- by The Herman Group, Inc. -- reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: From "The Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists. (800) 227-3566 or http://www.hermangroup.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group, Inc." BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: RETENTION SPECIALIST PROGRAM A growing number of people have expressed an interest in attending our Employee Retention Specialist Certificate Program. We'd like to schedule on that's convenient for those who want to attend, but need your feedback to do so. Please place RETENTION SPECIALIST in the subject line and Joyce will personally call you back to schedule the workshop. Or you can call Joyce directly at 336-210-3548 (PDT this and next week). BUSINESS IS PICKING UP Most employers are unprepared. The recovery will bring a new set of challenges for employers that have been in prolonged contracted mode. They will need more skilled workers or will need now to begin to upskill their current staffs. But organizations can not engage in Strategic Workforce Planning, when they don't know how. That's where The Herman Group can help. We can help you with your "People Review"----large or small---so that you will know who you will need and when you will need them. . . and we can also guide you to the best sources for the people you will need. For more information, call Joyce at 336-210-3548 or e-mail joyce@hermangroup.com. FIND OUT WHAT YOUR EMPLOYEES REALLY THINK AND FEEL Discover what’s really going on in the hearts and minds of your employees. Our InnerViews interviewing service uses SPHRs and PHRs, certified human resource professionals to probe for the information you really need to know. Exit and Stay Interviews, as well as Why-Didn't-You-Take-Our-Offer Interviews. Call Rosalie Catalano at 937-416-7066, or read more at: http://www.hermangroup.com/retentionconnection/exit_interviews.html. Herman Trend Alerts are produced by the Herman Group, strategic business futurists, Certified Management Consultants, authors, and professional speakers. New subscribers are welcome. There is no charge for this public service. The Herman Trend Alert is received by over 30,000 subscribers in 78 countries, in addition to other websites and printed magazines. Do you enjoy receiving this weekly e-mail update? Contact us about our co-branded Trend Alert service. Click here to sign up for the Herman Trend Alert. Subscribe or Unsubscribe to weekly Herman Trend Alert View this week's Herman Trend Alert Archived Weekly Herman Trend Alerts

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