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Executive Interviews: Interview with Martin Lindstrom on Marketing in a Downturn
July 2009
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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). 
SST is a variation of EEG, a technique
developed more than a century ago.
EEG measures electric signals sent by
the brain. This highlights the areas of
the brain which are active. The
technique is cheaper than fMRI, but
not as accurate. fMRI testing canmake
examinations deep into the cortex,
and can investigate specific areas, as
small as 1 mm. EEG is not capable of
such specific investigation and needs
a larger number of subjects to glean
useful data. Buyology used both
methods and stands as the largest and
the most advanced neuromarketing
study ever conducted. The findings of this project were
controversial. Can you share with our
readers those controversial findings?
Were you shocked when you initially
looked at those results yourself?
What surprised you most?
- The most provocative finding from
the Buyology study was probably
from the religious study where we
found a strong parallel between
religion and powerful brands. Not to
say that a religion is a brand but to say
that brands often have strong
similarities with religion. Naturally this has caused major attention and
interest – and some has even upset
people; that said, I’ve been surpised
about how few people have
complained about the nature of the
study.
- The second – highly
controversial finding was the fact that
health warnings on cigarette packs
don’t work. In fact they often have the
totally opposite effect. This of course
has shocked the entire anti-smoking
community – not to forget the tobacco
industry which over the past two
years has tried to stop the book
several times.
- Another finding shocked the
world too – the fact that Ford, a $26
mn sponsor of American Idol, is
wasting all their money – in fact
they’re deleting their brand.
The book Buyology reads more like
a neuroscience book rather than a
marketing edifice. Of course, it’s
absolutely superb way to combine
science with marketing. Was it
intended to be that way or was it an
unintended consequence?
Absolutely – I wanted to make it a
book everyone could read. How do you think the companies
(B2C companies in particular) should
communicate with the ‘subconscious
mind’ of the consumer?
To make a long story short, they’ll
more andmore begin to communicate
without using their logo and instead
use ‘subconscious’ signals, i.e., a
smell, sound, taste, or a color –
signals which are telling the brand
story without showing the logo… One of the most interesting yet
intriguing ideas embedded into
Buyology is mirror neurons. Can you
take us through what it means and
why is it important to know the way
we are all mute witnesses to
operation of mirror neurons?
Mirror Neuron is a relatively new
discovery which is dubbed as big as
the DNA. It means that we’re
hardwired to feel what other people are feeling when doing certain
movements – in short, empathy. This
can now finally be measured in the
brain – which means that brands will
be better equipped to understand
why we find an iPod attractive or feel
cool when wearing a GUCCI bag. Right now the world is in the midst
of an economic crisis and several
millions of jobs have been cut putting
people under fear psychosis.
Companies’ bottom lines are severely
hit with plummeting sales. Even with
economic stimulus packages, people
are not willing to spend.What is your
advice to all such companies – how
should they market their products
and services in this meltdown?
Don’t cut your prices – research
shows that by discounting your
brand during a recession it will take
you seven years to recover your
original price level. Focus on your
brand strengths (real not imagined!),
and emphasize the heritage and
classic/traditional values while the
crises on people tend to go back to the
memories of the good old days. Do exploit the fact that your
competitors may have shrunk their
advertising spending – you can
rapidly win back mind share as well
if you have the courage to act now.
Then rely on your operations and
product teams to keep you ahead long
term.
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