Increasing Brand Love by Sweating the Small Stuff
Crawford Hollingworth, Founder at The Behavioural Architects recently spoke at Aura’s event: A First Aid Kit for your brand, discussing how behavioural economics can inspire small changes that make big differences to brands.
After introducing some key insights drawn from behavioural science about how we look at and interact with the world around us, Crawford demonstrated just how these insights are relevant for brands.
He talked about how by approaching communications with a BE lens, brands can make small, cost effective changes with significant impact! One example he used was understanding the power of the default option and the tendency of inaction, i.e. no action is the default response for most people. For example, when presented with the option to opt in, rather than opting out, behavioural research shows that only around 30% of people opt in. Conversely if they have to opt out, roughly 80% or more remain. Changing the option from opt in to opt out can therefore have a meaningful impact for brands.
Furthermore, making small changes to how brand communication is framed and what information is made salient can also make a huge difference. Crawford told the story of a global health club that used behavioural insights to make tiny changes to their EDM resulting in increased response rates and memberships.
His final comments were about the power of priming- the ability to harness the subconscious mind! Priming can create subconscious associations between the brand and a particular mood or feeling, for example, associating a snack brand with the positive feelings associated with sharing.
The talk was incredibly well received with feedback after the session suggesting that people found the session thoroughly engaging and inspiring. The presentation was even voted by the audience as the one most likely to spur them into action!