How Apple and Nike have branded your brain | Your Brain on Money | Big Think

How Apple and Nike have branded your brain
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Powerful branding can not only change how you feel about a company, it can actually change how your brain is wired.

"We love to think of ourselves as rational. That's not how it works," says UPenn professor Americus Reed II about our habits (both conscious and subconscious) of paying more for items based primarily on the brand name. Effective marketing causes the consumer to link brands like Apple and Nike with their own identity, and that strong attachment goes deeper than receipts.

Using MRI, professor and neuroscientist Michael Platt and his team were able to see this at play. When reacting to good or bad news about the brand, Samsung users didn't have positive or negative brain responses, yet they did have "reverse empathy" for bad news about Apple. Meanwhile, Apple users showed a "brain empathy response for Apple that was exactly what you'd see in the way you would respond to somebody in your family."
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TRANSCRIPT:

NARRATOR: Coke is just soda. Tylenol is just acetaminophen. And Levi's are just jeans. Yet consumers go out of their way to select these specific brands over others.

AMERICUS REED II: An economist would say,"How is this possible, that a rational consumer would be willing to pay more for exactly the same thing?" We love to think about ourselves as rational. That's not how it works.

A very famous study done by colleagues at Duke University flashed either the Apple logo or the IBM logo to two randomized groups of participants.

NARRATOR: The study found that after being subliminally exposed to the Apple logo, compared to when you'd been exposed to the IBM logo, participants performed better on creative tasks.

AMERICUS REED II: And the argument is that Apple has been telling you this story over and over again, that Apple is the brand for hip, cool, fun, creative people.

NARRATOR: This is the true power of brands. They can influence our behavior in ways that extend way beyond the point of sale. So to what degree can the influence of brands wreak havoc on our ability to make rational spending decisions? This is your brain on money.

This is Americus Reed. He studies identity and marketing at the University of Pennsylvania.

AMERICUS REED II: When I make choices about different brands, I'm choosing to create an identity. When I put that shirt on, when I put those shoes on, those jeans, that hat, someone is going to form an impression about what I'm about. So if I'm choosing Nike over Under Armour, I'm choosing a kind of different way to express affiliation with sport.

The Nike thing is about performance. The Under Armour thing is about the underdog. I have to choose which of these different conceptual pathways is most consistent with where I am in my life.

NARRATOR: And once a consumer makes that choice, their relationship with a brand can deepen to the point where they identify with that brand like family. And once you identify with a brand, it can shape the way you behave.

AMERICUS REED II: And it's really interesting because they will also, if someone talks bad about that product, brand, or service, they will be the first to go out and defend. Why? Because an attack on the brand is an attack on themselves.

NARRATOR: Michael Platt is a professor of neuroscience, marketing, and psychology whose research demonstrates how our perception of brands influences our decisions.

MICHAEL PLATT: There's an idea in marketing, which is that we relate to brands in the same way we relate to people. It's like, "I love this brand," or, "I hate this brand." Of course, what people say can often be different from what's really going on in their heads.

So we thought, "Well, why don't we just ask the brain directly?"

NARRATOR: Michael and his team observed the brains of iPhone users and Samsung Galaxy users with an MRI machine while they heard good, bad, and neutral news about Apple and Samsung.

MICHAEL PLATT: Apple customers showed a brain empathy response toward Apple that was exactly what you'd see in the way you would respond to somebody in your own family.

NARRATOR: Strangely, Samsung users didn't have any positive or negative responses when good or bad news was released about their brand. The only evidence that Samsung users showed was reverse empathy for Apple news. Meaning if the Apple headline was negative, their brain reflected a positive response.

MICHAEL PLATT: You know, it really shows us that Apple has completely defined the market here. Samsung customers, it seems, from their brain data, are only buying Samsung...

[Tensaroxx]

"Brands have steppped in as pillar of our identity" summed it up perfectly🙏🙏

[ReynaSingh]

I think we’re all aware of this, but don’t want to accept it

[silly]

"Brands have steppped in as pillar of our identity"... this is a nightmare dystopia and thez even cheer this on

[pranjalsisodia]

Insights for my own reference-
0:25 subconscious Influence of brands on our performance
0:50 How apple achieved it's current image?
1:00 Brands can influence our behavior that extend way beyond the POS
1:25 Choosing brands is about choosing your own identity
2:00 & 2:35 People view Brand of their choice like a member of family/tribe.
3:35 People subconsciously choose a brand because that brand has some form of self-expressive value
4:37 The Anti-Brand Brand
5:00 Fundamental need for us humans to have support systems, which were previously fulfilled by church community universities etc
5:15 Now Brands have stepped in as pillars of our identity

[DanielBeristain]

If you don't know who you are, someone else might tell you who they need you to be

[runsett]

When people start analyzing things for how much they are worth, then they will stop buying the brand and start buying the thing

[tangiblewords]

Thanks for this thoughtful video on the power of branding to form personal relationships with brands and also an identity based on brands. Powerful lessons for salespeople and marketers here.

[bendayhoe]

Great video! I'd love to see the discussion go deeper in regards to brands and (identity) politics 🤔

[chaotic_tired]

I love my parents and am really grateful cause they raised me outside this "get what works best or whats cheapest, a car is a car, a phone is a phone, tools should follow function"

[VIDEOGRAFIKO]

It appears to me a lot of comments here are misunderstanding the concept of this video. It is not about brainwashing people it is about anthropomorphism of an intangible object such as a Brand therefore people connect with it as if it were human. Humans do this all the time with inanimate objects and animals. It appears to me the statement of this video is that when people connect to something on an emotional level it becomes apart of their identity therefore creating loyalty. This can be employed to anything not just brands.

[alexnovicov]

This is so true. I spoke about this in my book explaining how brands can create and build loyalty by creating purposeful and meaningful brand story.

[cutestuffFR]

Thanks for this! I was focused on "brand awareness" goal for the past few months and I was wondering if I did things right. Showing up every single day to put my brand in front of my customers and it was exhausting at times. Now I know I'm on the right path xo

[DrFaust-tbnw]

“It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else.” - Arthur Shopenhaur

[waterproof]

"Only the disciplined ones in life are free" - Eluid Kipchoge

[RobertoHammer]

This is one of the most inspirational video I've ever seen in my life about branding. I'm feeling inspired to be a researcher in the area. Thanks a lot!

[manuochoa]

It's about limbic resonance. As stated in some comments below, anything that triggers us an emotional response will lure us to repeat it. Whether it's a brand, an experience, an habit. But also, it has a lot to do with the image we think we project about ourselves, so in this case brands have developed very specific profiles that we want ourselves to be described by against society, our peers and strangers... While we identify with brands we surrender our fifth to build ourselves...

[piratenpotter]

I've been working in the PR/marketing industry for over 7 years and I find this a very insightful video on the importance of consistent, positive brand storytelling. Not all businesses can be brands. Often, the only ones who succeed is those who have a clear and solid identity through evoking emotions to consumers (Coca-Coca equals to happiness; Apple equals to sophistication; Nike equals to winning, etc.). Most consumers would not just look at a specs sheet but more on how you make them feel. Really appreciate this talking about that actual science.

[fabiocaetanofigueiredo]

Humans are much closer to emotional beasts than to computers.

[guptaaniketag]

I appreciate your informative videos but more than that I love the animation, scenes and ways of depecting every small details about anything in your videos.
Your video are

[Satchel]

This is interesting. I think to a degree we all have realized our relationships with a brand. Branding can also be a good thing to. Because we all know brands with higher quality standards then others so it can give us a bit of security in knowing that what you’re getting from said brand is quality. Like when I buy an iPhone I know it’s going to be made of quality materials. When I buy uggs I know the shoes are going to be quality. So on and so on. There are very few brands that I stand by religiously but it is interesting how people relate with a certain brand.