Advertising has undergone many dramatic shifts over the last few decades, but few have been as thought-provoking, innovative or game-changing as the central idea taking root within AdLand - that humans are highly emotionally led.
Despite being well documented, this is a broad statement, and the finer detail of the theory often gets lost. In this article, we are diving a little deeper into what this means for advertising and how we can leverage culture to influence people’s often irrational decision making.
According to proprietary research for our recent thought leadership piece, Giving Media Back its Mojo, to be successful, brands need to embed themselves within places and moments that people already love. Our research shows us consumers are actively telling us this. 6 in 10 Brits feel it is important for brands to be a part of culture and a further third view a brand more positively when brands participate in things they love.
But cultures’ true impact runs deeper. Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky uncovered a concept called social proofing. When you recognise, implicitly or otherwise, that most people are on board with something, without rationalising it you start to lean toward what those people are doing. This concept is intrinsic to culture as culture is simply the ideas and traditions of the collective.
When you position yourself as a brand embedded within culture you are also signalling to people that being a part of your brand is something that a lot of people are both aware of and a part of. This concept is amplified when we factor in media channel. If we attempt to be a part of the national conversation on a primetime TV spot, this will implicitly signal that more people are aware and a part of that conversation. None of this is recognised as deliberate, conscious thought, but rather acts as a subconscious thought process.
A good example of this in action is Irn-Bru’s advertising. the7stars worked with the brand by positioning them as the go-to, humorous soft drink of the 2024 Men’s Euros. By combining a relationship to a key cultural touchstone (the Euros), a clear association (humour and silliness) and a public setting for cultural imprinting to be absorbed (OOH and TV), we found that Irn-Bru quickly captured the nation, got people talking and encouraged people to join in with the brand by increasing sales by 10%.
Looking at this from a social proofing perspective, we can see that the campaign utilised culture and medium in tandem to record high awareness and implicit associations amongst potential customers. Consider not just being part of culture for culture’s sake, but how the subtle nuances of human behaviour can be influenced simply by showing up and being present for potential consumers.
Source: the7stars Pulse, Giving Media Back It's Mojo, Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky.
