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30 DIGS.NET | 10.4.2019 The triune, also referred to as the reptilian brain, is our oldest and most primitive response mechanism, and it's arguably the most important as it relates to marketing and its role in helping people make decisions. The lizard brain is inherently geared toward pain avoidance, rather than gaining pleasure. In the current state of decline in the advertising industry, it behooves marketers to better understand the role of science as it relates to decision making. Indecision – the worst nightmare for marketers. The most dangerous enemy for marketers is indecision or "status quo." With the perception of the advertising industry hitting a 7-year low and the continued erosion of consumer trust, it's time to start thinking primitively about marketing – our survival is at stake. Attention all brands and marketers – your product or service differentiators are not the reason your prospects buy; they only reinforce the "status quo." Back to the lizard brain – this is where sensory input reaches first, triggering a fear or pleasure reaction long before the logical cortex can start processing. Think of it as the brain's gatekeeper – for marketers, it's the pass or fail point. To succeed in marketing today, you need to get past the lizard brain. Fear is good for avoiding pain. In marketing as in life, fear is good. Using fear in marketing and advertising can create context which will prompt a response from the lizard brain – the key is striking the optimum balance. Perception is reality. Marketers like to say that 'perception is reality." Well then, try this on for size. Americans' view of the advertising and public relations industry just hit a 7-year low, according to a recent Gallup survey on industry perception. In fact, only 13% of adults rated advertising practitioners' honesty and ethics positively, compared to the 37% who felt negatively about these qualities (or lack thereof) in advertisers. Perception in the advertising industry is so bad that only healthcare, pharma, and the federal government rank lower in terms of sentiment. Coupled with unprecedented access, distribution and the infinite supply of content, marketing, and its sanctity of consumer trust, has reached a new critical mass. Worse still, when you google 'marketing expert,' you will find 801,000,000 results. Houston, we have a marketing problem. Bombarded by endless messaging and advertising, people make choices every day. Marketing is the difficult work of telling an authentic story that resonates to the people whose problems, fears and anxiety you're trying to alleviate. If you want to do better marketing, you need to understand how humans make choices. Marketing isn't about shiny new objects, taking shortcuts, hustle, or deception – it's the art and science of making things better for the people you seek to serve. Enter the "lizard brain." Let's go inside the human brain for some perspective on how people perceive, interpret, and act on external inputs. The study of the brain and neuroscience reveals three basic "systems" of brain composition – the cortex, limbic, and triune. The cortex (the human brain) processes information, the limbic (mammal brain) regulates emotion, and the triune (reptilian or lizard brain) is our oldest and most primitive system that is responsible for all of the regulatory and danger- sensing stuff. In short, the lizard brain is responsible for survival. e Decline of Western Advertising Civilization P U B L I S H E R ' S M U S E If you speak to the fear, pain, threats, and challenges consumers have you'll gain access to the holy grail in marketing – attention and engagement. Start with clear and compelling messaging to create a sense that they won't be able to succeed or hit their objectives by staying where they are. Use visual and emotional messaging that guides prospects towards your pleasurable offering and steers them away from the pain. Use contrast, tangible and simple concepts, and avoid complexity. Logic, heavy handed facts, data, and stats don't deserve consideration here. The lizard brain mostly remembers what happened first and last, so focus on the beginning and end in your story, but don't screw up the middle! People trust their gut. You heard it before, "trust your gut instinct," or "the first decision is usually the correct one," and so on. Decision making happens in a flash. In his book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell postulates that our subconscious supercomputer brains process decisions in less than two seconds using a thin slice of data, bucking the conventional wisdom that people will almost always make better judgements when they have as much information and data as possible. Your gut instinct tells you when to be wary and when to be trusting. Gladwell calls it the "adaptive unconscious." Intuition is perhaps more accurate than logic. Marketers take heed, the lizard brain rules. Your fear is real. Until next time ~ Warren J Dow | Publisher wdow@Southbaydigs.com | 310.373.0142

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