Executive Interviews: Interview with Martin Lindstrom on Marketing in a Downturn
July 2009 - By Dr. Nagendra V Chowdary

Martin Lindstrom
CEO and Chairman of the LINDSTROM company and the Chairman of BUYOLOGY INC (New York) and BRAND sense Agency (London).

• Firstly, IUP (IUP) congratulates you for coming outwith a timely and brilliant book, Buyology. How do you look at the reception the book has received worldwide?
  The reception worldwide has been amazing – the book will by end of 2009 be out in 37 languages – has been featured in most if not all major newspapers, magazines and TV stations in the US. The book hit most best-selling lists in the world including The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. In addition, TIME magazine included me as one of the world’s 100 most influential people due to the release of Buyology.

• What’s Buyology all about? Can you give us a bird’s eye view of the book? What were the triggering factors for phenomenal research that went into this book? Who do you think should definitely read this book?
  a. The book is written for everyone, housewife’s, business people, marketing people –       evenmy parents. I decided to write such a ‘simple’ book because I wanted the world to       become aware of this new brave world – and how it is going to affect all our lives in the       future.

  b. Buyology discovered a lot – among others:

1. Sex doesn’t sell.
2. Product placement (in its current format) does work – the context does. iii. There’s an amazing parallel between religion and brands in our brains.
3. The sense of sound, followed by the sense of smell is more powerful than the sense of sight.
4. Subliminal advertising exist – and is more powerful than any other marketing techniques – and even worse – it happens every day.

• How is your previous book, BRAND sense, which Wall Street Journal has acclaimed as one of the 10 best marketing books ever published, doing?

  Today 35% of the top 100 brands in the world are currently using the theories I explored in BRAND sense – the book by the way will be released in its second (paperback) version next month.

• Are there any connotative connections between BRAND sense and Buyology?

  You could say that BRAND sense was the beginning of a journey – using quantitative and qualitative research techniques – that advanced to Buyology – using non-conscious techniques.What I realizedwas that it is impossible to ask people about taste, smell and touch – we simply need to look into our brains to understand how these senses truly affect us – so you could say that BRAND sense 2.0 is Buyology.

• It seems that the timing of Buyology is just so perfect intending to help both the sellers and the shoppers. How do you think Buyology would be a great asset for all the sellers (especially the retailers) and the shoppers?
  The current recession has required retailers more than ever to optimize their sales and marketing effort – remember 85%of all the decisions we make while shopping are made in our non-conscious mind – yet almost 100%of themarketing and sales effort today is appealing to the conscious mind – i.e., the 15%.

  Companies will start to play a mind game with consumers that is slightly different from what we’ve seen in the past. Some companies assume that the consumer doesn’t have any money. But now they’re learning that, that’s not the case.

  Consumers still do have money – at least many do – but the reason that they’re not spending it is because they’re afraid they may lose the money in the future.