The search for something new is a basic prerequisite for innovation marketing. However, many start-ups and companies find it difficult to communicate these innovations to their customers or employees. But how do you manage to place the innovations in an appealing way? Neuromarketing provides the answer.
People like new things. Advertisers and marketing experts in particular know that active placement of new products is a good way to draw customers’ attention to them. If you take a look at the point-of-sale you will often find large signs with words like “NEW” or “LIMITED SPECIAL EDITION” on the shelves. According to the neuroscientists, the attraction of the “new” is firmly anchored in our brain. This phenomenon dates back to prehistoric times, when our ancestors greeted everything new in search of food. However, despite this evolutionary influence and the active search for the new, innovations are always viewed critically. 70% of all innovations fail within the first few years.
The reason, according to the neuromarketing experts, is that although we humans are attracted by the novelty of the developments, we feel a little uncomfortable with this uncertain situation at the same time. This is one of the reasons why we find it difficult to access the new product, despite the enthusiasm it may have.
So what do innovators have to do to get their products to work? Neuromarketing says that the best way to place a new product is to incorporate a recognizable element of familiarity. So to focus on a moderate degree of innovation. Such an innovation is characterised by the fact that it builds on existing developments and expands them more and more. Just as Google did, for example: from the search engine to the image archive to the navigation software. Everything had something to do with the search for information. Another example is the Apple products. The tech giant relies on two factors of awareness. Do the products like the Mac or iPod look familiar to you? The reason for this is that Apple’s designers have focused on well known products that have already worked very well, at least in the parents’ generation.
Also the user guidance is nothing completely new and gives the customers a pleasant feeling of familiarity. Take the iPad, for example. It was a definite novelty when Steve Jobs presented it in 2010. Never before has there been a comparable product (apart from the early attempts of the competition), but in spite of everything, it had familiar characteristics. Not only did it reflect the functions of a computer, but the gestures with which it could be operated reminded us of turning the pages of a book.
These transfer services in the design of new products are worthwhile. As a rule, customers do not know what to do next or what to buy. Therefore, neuromarketing relies on the fact that they rely on what is apparently known in future decisions, as this is easily accessible in our minds.
Neuromarketing for innovators
Companies should not forget their core in all their innovations. Larger SMEs or groups of companies in particular already have a firm place in the minds of their customers, and they should not lose this position despite all the innovations. The brain scans of neuromarketing clearly show that well-known brands cause higher levels of brain activation than unknown ones. For established brands, the course is therefore that although they must emphasize the novelty of the products, they must at the same time use the power of brand affinity.
However, in the case of less well-known or completely new companies, such as start-ups, neuromarketing also has a recommendation. Marketing and advertising are for presenting product benefits to the customer. They show him how the new development can be used and what he can achieve with it. Especially the unconscious goals play an important role. For young companies, the mission is therefore not to place innovation as a genuine, unprecedented novelty, but to build a familiar context that not only conveys added value, but also a feeling of security and awareness to customers.
