The CEO of MediaScience, a lab studying marketing through neurology, talks with Colin Finkle about bringing scientific rigor to branding.

Branding happens in the mind; our propensity to track reputations and use our experience with people and organizations to guide our future behaviour is all built into our neurology.

But brand builders, marketers and designers rarely think about what is going on “under the hood.” Psychology and neurology seem like too much parse when you are just trying to choose a headline that will convert.
But MediaScience is using scientific measures to make such decisions. They use experimental design and measurement of our biology to help large media platforms and companies make critical marketing decisions using scientifically gathered data.

For example, Dr Duane Varan and I talk about using response latency testing (RLT) to measure brand associations. This test measures how fast a subject responds with one thought after being primed with another. RLT is a way to test brand associations in a far more objective, quantifiable, and reliable method than traditional measures like surveys.

Before you think that such testing is excellent but entirely out of reach, prepare to be surprised. Brands, large and small, are looking for cheap, easy to run tests to get feedback on their brand. Technology is developing to perform tests with electronics as simple and small as a FitBit or Xbox Kinect. Therefore, Dr Varan’s tests in the lab today may be available to you tomorrow.

Companies that foster a culture of research and regularly test assumptions will have an advantage in building brands in the next hundred years.

Do you want to build your brand using the scientific method? Or are you happy playing guessing games?

If you are excited about the prospect, you will enjoy the conversation I (Colin Finkle) had with Dr Duane Varan.

Continue reading here:
https://brandmarketingblog.com/articles/interviews/dr-duane-varan-interview/