Buyer Beware

Been thinking about marketing today, and came back across some pieces I'd heard about a couple of months ago. These gool ol' boys from Atlanta, the Brighthouse Institute for Thought Sciences want your mind. Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and General Motors, well, they just want your wallet. When the two meet, you have Neuromarketing. The idea, according to Adam Koval, an executive at the Brighthouse Institute, is that it may be possible, damn near easy in fact, to determine what a prospective client wants to know about a product or campaign, and then develop a test that can use any one of the five senses to determine what subconscious stimulus it will take to win another customer. Koval rubs his hands sweaty palms together, his bug-eyes glazed, as he explains:

"What it really does is give unprecedented insight into the consumer mind. And it will actually result in higher product sales or in brand preference or in getting customers to behave the way they want them to behave."

The difference between this and any other marketing plan is obvious, it seems, and is one that Koval is willing again, once he sips his glass of newly-drained blood, to point out:

“I’m not interested in whether or not you like my ad. I’m interested in whether or not it’s effective in helping you either buy, or become more loyal to, my brand.”

For better or worse, Koval isn' t out to capture your interest, which every advertiser knows is ever-waning; no, he's out to capture you. "We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way," Noval could be heard hissing in his car, staring intently into the mirror, flexing his neck muscle as his nostrils flared. Meanwhile, a television blares: Have a Coke and a smile.