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Three Laws of Branding - Neuroscientific Foundations of Effective Brand Building PDF
Three Laws of Branding - Neuroscientific Foundations of Effective Brand Building PDF
Neuroscientific foundations
of effective brand building
Received (in revised form): 14 November, 2007
TJACO H. WALVIS
is a partner at THEY, a brand management consulting firm based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Before that,
he was with BBDO. Mr Walvis advises on (creative) brand and communication strategy issues, including brand
positioning, extensions, portfolio management and location branding (eg nations). He has worked with brands in a
broad range of industries, including fashion, fast mover consumer goods, financial services, government, insurance,
media, pharmaceuticals, private banking, postal services, publishing, retail, telecommunications and world expositions.
Clients include Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, DaimlerChrysler, Dorito’s, Mars, McKinsey & Company, Robeco, Sanoma
Publishers and many others. Mr Walvis holds two Master degrees, in economics (MSc) and philosophy (MA), both from
Erasmus University Rotterdam. He is married, with three children, and lives and works in Amsterdam.
Keywords Abstract
branding; memory-based Commercial brands strive to be chosen by customers, and branding as an activity is aimed at
brand choice; increasing the likelihood that they are. Almost all customer choices are at least partially memory-
branding laws; based. This paper begins with the assumption that as neuroscience is a ‘hard’ science studying
neuroscience; memory as a highly regular subject matter, it should be possible to deduce several laws from it for
neuromarketing the ‘soft’ field of branding. Based on primary, empirical research in neuroscience, the author
synthesises three laws that govern the probability that a brand enters our awareness as a positive
candidate for choice. Brands that have been built in accordance with these laws have a higher
probability of being chosen than brands in the same category that have not.
Journal of Brand Management (2008) 16, 176–194. doi:10.1057/palgrave.bm.2550139;
published online 28 December 2007
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www.palgrave-journals.com/bm
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THREE LAWS OF BRANDING
choice is at least partially based on asso- evaluation (in which the final choice is
ciations stored in long-term memory. Of made). The basic premise is that people
course it is possible, at least in theory, that do not make a choice out of all the brands
choice is not influenced at all by brand they are aware of but from a smaller subset
information stored in memory but is called the consideration set, which is often
entirely stimulus-driven—for example in (goal) constructed (see Paulssen and
the case of new, unknown or unfamiliar Bagozzi35). Moreover, it seems that the
brands or through some form of highly consideration set is universal and found
effective point of sale communication. By across national cultures.36
definition, we cannot attribute the choice In order for a brand to be chosen, the
for the brand in such ‘perfect stimulus- consideration set model states that the
driven’ instances to associations in the brand must first be recalled from memory
customer’s brain established by prior and then needs to be evaluated positively.
branding efforts. Such choices may be It is important to note that in the majority
subject to principles of visual perception of choice occasions, the largest part of this
(see Lee12 and Shindler and Berbaum31) process may take place implicitly—
or on-the-spot persuasion (see Cialdini32), proceeding outside of our conscious
but not to branding or branding laws attention (see Coates et al.37 and Shapiro
based on associations as discussed here. In and Krishnan38). Much of human behav-
other situations, decisions are mixed (ie iour in general appears to be shaped by
memory and stimulus-driven) in that they factors beyond our awareness.39 Bargh and
are founded on input from the environ- Chartrand40 estimate that roughly 5 per
ment as well as on information retrieved cent of the time, conscious deliberation
from memory.12 In the end, almost all plays a causal role in guiding our behav-
brand choices are at least partially memory- iour. Persaud et al.41 have elegantly proven
based,7,22 and when long-term memory experimentally that we can make correct
plays a role, branding laws might apply. decisions without knowing why or how
we make them.What is more, unconscious
thought can even lead to better, more
THE PROCESS OF BRAND CHOICE satisfying decisions, especially in the case
The question is, then, whether or not of more complex product choices such as
neuroscience can help to identify regu- deciding between houses or cars.42 Evoca-
larities in the way branding can influence tion, then, takes place largely outside our
the outcome of memory-based choice awareness—a position supported by
situations. Before we can turn to answering neuroscience research, as we will see in a
this question, it is first necessary to look moment. Conscious evaluation, on the
in some more detail at the choice process other hand, does take place of course, but
itself. One broadly accepted and well- especially in the case of high-involvement
researched theory of the brand choice products and services (eg mortgages, cars,
process, and one that draws considerable television sets, photo cameras, etc) and
academic attention, is the consideration always after evocation, so that evocation is
set model based on Howard and Sheth.33 arguably the more fundamental activity.24
It distinguishes between two conceptually Our second axiom is, therefore, that
different phases,34 namely that of evocation whether or not a brand is evoked at the
(in which a set of brands to choose from buying moment is a key determinant of
is recalled from long-term memory) and the ultimate choice. This axiom is not
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WALVIS
random, but stems from a growing body tation as well, and the winner of this
of research and literature that emphasises competition—the most ‘salient brand’—is
‘brand saliency’ as the dominant factor in the most probable candidate for final
final choice.11,24,38,43–48 Nedungadi,48 for choice (cf., Nedungadi48 for example).
example, has studied the phases of consid- This latter finding is further supported by
eration and choice and has shown that the fact that awareness competition is
brands that are more strongly associated resolved, unconsciously, largely on the
with primary choice cues (ie brands that basis of relevance.49,50 This is much in line
are more salient relative to those cues) with the finding of Kahneman et al.52 and
have a higher chance of entering the Kahneman and Ritov53 that automatic
consideration set and of being chosen. affective valuation is the main determi-
Brands that are recalled first are more nant of many judgments and behaviours.
likely to be chosen. Hence, we will state Damasio’s54 somatic marker theory
that branding exerts a crucial influence on proposes a similar automatic evaluation of
choice by intimately connecting the brand choice options, explicitly based on bodily
name with primary choice cues. sensations—although this latter aspect
The finding that saliency—in the sense has been challenged, for instance by
of becoming top-of-mind at the moment Rolls.55 Our view of the brand choice
of choice—is such a dominant factor in process resembles Kahneman’s56 System 1
brand choice and is supported by recent process of intuitive judgment, in that
findings in neuroscience. In an overview brand choice takes place largely outside
article, Duncan49 has shown that there is our consciousness and is rapid, automatic
a very general principle at work in our and effortless.
brain under which stimuli compete for
‘cortical representation’. Visual and audi-
tory signals, for example, vie for our atten- INCREASING A BRAND’S CORTICAL
tion. There is a constant battle going on REPRESENTATION PROBABILITY
in our brain, whereby cues compete for Against this background, we can begin to
entry into our awareness. formulate several propositions that lay the
This principle of competition for foundation for the deduction of branding
awareness not only applies to external laws. So far, we have assumed that brands
cues (eg visual or auditory stimuli coming want to be chosen and that branding is
from the environment) but also to focused on increasing the probability that
thoughts, actions, goals, meanings and they are. More specifically, branding aims
especially memories as well (eg cues to influence choice behaviour by maxim-
emanating from inside the brain). Given ising the probability that the brand wins
the associative nature of memory, retrieving the (unconscious) competition for cortical
a goal-relevant memory (eg a brand name) representation—the battle for awareness.57
often involves selecting it against several Linking the brand to primary choice cues
competing memories—a process some- is paramount in achieving this.11,48
times called ‘mnemonic competition’.50 Rephrased in neurological terms, this
Only if a cue enters our awareness does means that branding seeks to increase
it become available for report.51 the likelihood that the neuron-assembly
Given that brands are networks of asso- or association network that represents
ciations (see Franzen and Bouwman24), the brand is activated and the brand name
they must compete for cortical represen- enters our awareness during the choice
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THREE LAWS OF BRANDING
process. Thus, we are interested in the (Thus, there appears to be some truth in
neurological rules that determine what we the old advertising adage that ‘sex sells’.)
will call a brand’s cortical representation prob- Montague60 states that brands are relevant
ability. Once established, such rules would to the degree to which they create biolog-
give rise to branding laws that point ical or psychological reward signals in our
towards actions we can take to increase brains that activate the dopamine system
the brand’s cortical representation proba- (which is involved in creating feelings of
bility and hence the chance it is chosen. pleasure and motivation). In an fMRI
study of remembering word pairs, Kuhl
CORTICAL REPRESENTATION et al.50 showed that the brain chooses to
PROPOSITIONS remember elements it thinks are most
Brands with a high cortical representation relevant to certain tasks and suppresses less
probability can be called ‘strong’ brands relevant cues. Bartsch et al.61 have found
because, as we have seen, they are the most that long-term memory formation requires,
salient and hence have the largest influ- among others, the inactivation (or switching-
ence on choice. We will now formulate off) of memory ‘suppressors’ that provide a
three propositions about the brain that threshold for memory formation. These
govern a brand’s cortical representation suppressors ensure that only salient features
probability and hence strength: the rele- are learned and thus allow for emotions
vance, coherence and richness theses. to modulate memory storage.23 In other
words, relevance relieves suppression, thus
Proposition 1: The Relevance Thesis. facilitating long-term memory formation.
The relevance thesis Duncan49 and others have demon-
says that the cortical strated that the competition for cortical
representation prob- representation is ‘biased’ towards elements
ability of an associa- that are relevant for our situation or task.
tion network (brand) The higher the relevance of an element,
depends on the degree the higher the chance it wins the battle
to which it is connected for awareness. Brands that are linked to
with elements that are what is significant for their customers or
of personal importance stakeholders at the moment of decision
in the choice process (ie (their ‘primary, salient choice cues’) have
‘salient choice cues’). a higher chance of being evoked, of
entering our awareness and of being chosen
The degree to which brand information (cf. Holden and Lutz,11 Nedungadi48 and
is of personal relevance to us strongly Wells and Fallon62). Research shows
influences the degree to which this infor- further that elements with identical features
mation is stored in long-term memory engage in a more vigorous mutual compe-
and the ease with which it can be retrieved tition for awareness. That is, they repress
from it. Neurobiological studies show each other forcefully and this reduces
that relevant or emotionally charged their combined inhibitory effect on a
phenomena are better remembered than more distinctive cue. As a result, the
irrelevant and neutral events.58,59 For distinctively relevant brand will be acti-
example, biologically significant informa- vated more strongly, increasing the prob-
tion about food or sex is stored more ability that it will enter our awareness and
durably than insignificant information.58 receive our attention (see Duncan49 and
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Yantis51). The imperative for brands, The coherence thesis is based on a corner-
therefore, is to be distinctively relevant. stone of our current neurobiological
The actual choice cues used by understanding of memory (see Matynia
customers can vary between individuals et al.64). Coherence has two components:
and for the same individual between repetition and specificity. First, it was long
different occasions.11,43 Moreover, as these an important hypothesis in the neuro-
primary choice cues differ per product or science community that when one neuron
service category and per situation, brands A repeatedly or persistently takes part in
only have a high cortical representation firing another B, the efficiency of A in
probability relative to a certain category firing B increases.This is so, it was thought,
or use occasion. Brand strength is there- because repeated firing between A and B
fore category and situation-relative. It is causes a long-term strengthening of the
important to note that it seems plausible synapses between the two neurons.65 Bliss
that choice cues are not necessarily a and Lømo66 were the first to confirm this
given, but that brands may be able to phenomenon, called ‘long-term potentia-
influence them.There is practical evidence tion’ (LTP), through research. They found
for example that Nike was able to trans- that repetition makes the communication
form the sneaker category, by consistently between synapses more efficient and leads
communicating a spirit of ‘irreverence’. to a higher excitability of the cells
Today, such a mentality seems relevant for involved. Kandel23 and others later found
a broad group of consumers whereas in that repetition and the resulting long-
the 1980s all that counted to its narrow term potentiation are the foundation of
client base was the ability to produce a the process of memory. More specifically,
good professional running shoe (see, eg conversion of a transient memory into a
Bedbury and Fenichell63). longer-term memory requires ‘spaced’
repetition of that memory. This is true for
Proposition 2: The Coherence Thesis. primitive life-forms as well as for higher
The coherence thesis vertebrates and humans. As Kandel23
states that the likeli- writes: ‘Practice makes perfect—even in
hood that a neuron or snails’. Repeated activation of one
association network (ie memory also weakens competing memo-
brand) will win the ries, thus facilitating the retrieval of
battle for awareness repeated memories over nonrepeated
is proportional to the memories.50 Phenomena such as ‘flash-
number of times its bulb’ memories, in which very significant
connections with cells one-time personal events seem to etched
or association networks into memory (eg Kristallnacht experience,
that are fired during the witnessing the JFK assassination, our own
choice process (ie choice wedding, etc), and the ‘famous overnight
cues) have been acti- effect’, in which people mistakenly think
vated in the past. The that a presented name they have seen only
most efficient way once before belongs to a famous person,
to externally induce do not contradict this.67-70
these ‘past firings’ is Secondly, empirical studies show that
by repeating a (brand) the more identical the stimulus (eg the
message that is specific. brand’s message or the choice cue) is to
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THREE LAWS OF BRANDING
the stimulus stored in memory, the activate cell assemblies (ie cues), the more
more likely the memory can be activated likely B will be activated. We will call this
and retrieved71,72 (see, eg Tulving and degree of synaptic connectedness the
Thomson72 and Vaidya et al.73). This ‘richness’ of the network.
means that the more specific the brand’s In principle, every connection with
message over time, the more likely the orig- the choice cue can potentially activate
inal synaptic connections are reactivated the brand’s network. The more connec-
and hence strengthened—thus improving tions there are, the higher the likelihood
the brand’s cortical representation proba- that the whole network is evoked force-
bility and its chance of being selected. fully. The likelihood that individual
The consequence for branding is that neurons pass on a signal depends on the
brands seeking to be chosen must summation of the signals coming in. Gener-
constantly strengthen their links with ally, more signals make a higher sum.75
customers’ or stakeholders’ choice criteria In case more than one choice cue is
by reactivating them. Even though choice used to evoke brands, which may often
criteria may vary across categories and be the case, the ‘net sum’ of excitatory
situations, coherence in the branding policy signals will be higher in a richer network.
is compulsory from a neurological stand- This effect is further amplified if the
point. In order to reactivate certain elements of the network are also mutually
connections, the triggering stimulus must interconnected, as this facilitates further
be as specific as possible over time and activation cascades in an exponential
across ‘touch points’ (eg ads, campaigns, fashion. This higher ‘net sum’ of excita-
products, personnel, stores, websites, etc). tory signals results in a more forceful acti-
Coherence, in other words, means repeated vation of the brand name—a phenomenon
specificity. sometimes referred to as ‘bottom-up
stimulus strength’(see Dehaene et al.76).
Proposition 3: The Richness Thesis. Stronger activation increases the chance
The richness thesis that the brand wins the competition for
states that the likeli- cortical representation when two or more
hood that a neuron brands are cued simultaneously and engage
or cell assembly (ie in a mutually inhibitory battle for aware-
brand) will be acti- ness (see Duncan,49 Yantis51 and Dahaene
vated is proportional et al.76).
to the number of Research shows that such richer asso-
direct links it has with ciation networks (ie higher numbers of
cells or cell assemblies synaptic links) are formed as a result of
that are activated richer environments.77,78 Virtual reality
during the choice environments are used, for example, to
process (ie cues). rehabilitate the memory performance of
Ebbinghaus74 showed that the chance of (elderly) people.79 Environments are
activation of a neuron B, by a neuron A, richer when they provide higher quanti-
decreases with the number of intervening ties of relevant stimulation, for example
neurons between A and B. This means, more opportunities for play, exercise,
generally stated, that the more incoming learning, social interaction, physical
(dendritic) links a cell or cell assembly, B, activity, etc.80,81 Such environments
has that are directly connected with often present more stimuli and induce more
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THREE LAWS OF BRANDING
can vary between individuals and, for the and a top position at the choice moment,
same individual, between different occa- it is at a disadvantage versus brands that
sions. Typically, however, primary choice are less or not at all impeded by inhibiting
cues include product category, sub-cate- and memory-repressing inconsistencies
gory, functional and symbolic attributes, (see Duncan49).
use occasion, self and user image and Coherence in branding policy through
combinations of these.11,24,43 The brand’s time and space (ie across physical touch
core message and its propositions must be points such as advertising, point-of-sale
built around and distinguished within the materials, products, new product develop-
range of cues that are important to ment, packaging, websites, etc) is compul-
customers in the specific environment the sory from a neurological standpoint. In
brand operates in. contrast, incoherence is a recipe for dimin-
ishing the brand’s chance of being chosen
Law 2: The higher the coherence of and for destroying its financial value. Inco-
branding efforts across time herence (whether purposefully, uninten-
and space, the more likely the tionally or through the lack of leadership)
brand will be chosen. is a ‘Bonsai’ strategy. It keeps the brand
Ensuring a front position in the consid- small compared to its actual market poten-
eration set requires repetition of a specific, tial (like the Japanese art of tree minia-
relevant core message for the brand. turisation).
This is the law of coherence. Coherence It may seem from this account that
equals repetition multiplied by specificity sticking to one theme is all a brand has
(c = r.s). Repetition is needed to create to do. There is a difference, however,
strong synaptic connections with choice between the laws (branding aims) and the
criteria, which in turn is required for particular way in which one adheres to
increasing cortical representation proba- them in practice (branding activities). For
bility, which in turn is required for example, in practice, repetition must be
becoming top of mind at the moment of combined with the opposite need for
choice. Specificity is necessary because change, to maintain curiosity and prevent
specific messages are much more likely to people from becoming bored by the
repeatedly reactivate the same connec- brand. This is done, for example, through
tions and hence strengthen them—thus creating surprise and presenting the
improving the brand’s cortical representa- same brand message in ever-evolving inter-
tion probability. Moreover, communi- pretations, forms and expressions. This
cating many messages at the same time or then puts a premium on high ‘brand
in subsequent campaigns over the years orientation’ and rich brand concepts
creates confusion at best and contradiction that can act as long-term ‘business hubs’
at worst, resulting in negative emotions (cf. Gromark et al.89). Coherent change
such as aversion and dissonance (cf. and variation around one brand theme
Festinger88). Negative emotions may (which only a rich brand concept allows)
produce a cascade of inhibitory signals provides additional reinforcement of the
across the association network, thus brand’s cortical representation probability,
decreasing the probability that the brand because it draws more attention and
is activated and evaluated positively. Even induces more active processing (‘elabora-
if such a brand is strongly activated, we tion’), both of which increase memory
note that in the competition for awareness performance.23,90,91
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THREE LAWS OF BRANDING
use many more cues for recalling brands. Remarks on the law of participation
It is important that the operationalisation Participation is often neglected: Regarding the
of brand awareness is broadened, by not third law, we can observe in practice that
only measuring it relative to the product richness and participation are often not a
category but also against other primary focal point in media policy.The traditional
choice cues.43 focus of most media agencies and adver-
Measuring relevance: Secondly, when tisers is on Gross Rating Points (a common
measuring brand relevance the focus is measure of the average percentage of
generally on brand image. That is, the target group members contacted in a
brand to attribute connection is often certain period) and hence on reach. As
measured, which is important in the eval- more reach means lower richness (cf.
uation phase. What is often neglected is Evans and Wurster96), conventional media
the attribute to brand connection, which selection unwittingly sacrifices brand sali-
is crucial for evocation and the likelihood ency and hence long-term brand sales.
of entering customer’s consideration sets The third branding law creates the imper-
(cf. Holden and Lutz11). Research designs ative of optimising the richness-reach
should start to incorporate this.43 trade-off. Within the set of feasible media,
richness and reach must be mutually
served (of course given constraints such
Remarks on the law of coherence as medium fit with the brand concept,
Maintaining coherence: Regarding the budget, media prices, etc).
second law one can observe that in prac-
tice, coherence is often sacrificed due to
short-term economic pressures (see, eg CONCLUSIONS
Lodish and Mela97). It seems that marketers Brands seek to be chosen by customers,
often fail to understand or nurture the and branding as an activity is aimed at
brand’s deeper identity. Following the increasing the probability that they are. In
craze of the day, sending conflicting order to reach this goal, brands must win
‘interim’ messages for sales purposes or the unconscious battle for awareness
extending the brand with non-fitting new during the process of consideration set
products and services are common causes formation and choice. Brands that win the
that kill repetition and specificity. Thus, battle for awareness (ie the most salient
the major setbacks in a brand’s long-term brands) are more likely to be chosen.
quest of being chosen are often self- Based on neuroscientific insights, brands
inflicted handicaps created by disconti- following the three branding laws discussed
nuity, brand dilution and wavering in this paper have a higher chance of
leadership. While we may increase quar- winning the competition for cortical
terly sales, ‘short-termism’ can foster a representation and hence choice than a
tendency for the brand to grow weaker, brand that does not. They are the laws of
thus amplifying short-term sales pressures distinctive relevance, coherence and
in the future and creating a vicious circle. participation. In one sentence, the motto
The second law invokes the repeat- of these laws is: creating and repeating
surprise and the specificity-broadness relevant specificity (over time and across touch
trade-offs, and the need to combine these points) around one central brand theme, using
opposing goals (cf. Walvis98 and Collins the richest and most engaging forms and media
and Porras99). possible. This then is a general requirement
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WALVIS
for an effective allocation of marketing It may also mean that in the future,
investments. Stated slightly more prag- marketing directors are not only judged
matically in the form of key questions, the by the results they deliver but also by the
three laws of branding require that one degree to which they have followed the
asks of every branding act: laws of their profession in the process.
These laws hint at the results one could
— Is it distinctively relevant? and therefore should have obtained, thus
— Is it a specific expression of the brand providing a new type of benchmarks.
theme? This may improve the effectiveness of
— Is it delivered in the most engaging marketing investments and may prove to
form possible? be a leap forward for the professionalism
of our field.
The above account and the deduction of
the three laws is an attempt to add to and
Acknowledgment
elaborate upon existing work, to establish The article is the inspiration for the book ‘Three Laws
a stronger foundation for the field and to of Branding’ by the same author, forthcoming in the
translate insights from neuroscience into fall of 2008.
empirical consequences for the activity of
branding. It adds to a synthesis of disci-
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