New, evil powers for marketers
The diabolical discipline we call marketing is a dark and beautiful science. It was inevitable, with the increasing—and irritating—ability of target audiences to ignore our advertising messages, that we should find a way to unscrew the tops of their heads, have a little look-see inside and discover what makes them tick. The newest tool in our arsenal is a technology that will purportedly allow us to bypass focus groups, surveys and rating systems and directly observe activity in the brains of test subjects.
Bwah-ha-ha-ha!
It’s like that guy, Sylar, on Heroes, but less bloody. Okay, we don’t actually get to unscrew the tops of their heads, but we do get to use electrodes, like in a Frankenstein movie.
One new company, the brain-child (pun intended) of researcher Dr. Bob Knight, is called NeuroFocus, and its product are so promising that the Nielson Co. has invested in them. Apparently TV viewers aren’t as excited as they once were about filling out rating cards, not even for a whole five dollars, so the audience-measurement giant is looking for new ways to figure out what people like.
For marketing purposes, the technology promises measurability of audiences’ attention, emotional engagement and information retention. It’s being tested against split-market campaigns that have already proven out in the real world, to see if it really works, and … well, according to NeuroFocus, it really works.
So, okay, with mind reading out of the way, what’s next? Mind control would be cool. Surely NeuroFocus can make a few tweaks to the Sylar machine and come up with something that makes people buy products whether they like them or not. Now that’s what we diabolical marketing professionals really need.
I kid you.
Or do I?
Today’s FREE BONUS CONTENT!
Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
