what is brand blink

Brand Blink is a concept that is related to the concept propounded by Malcolm Gladwell in his book "Blink".

Marketing Today gives the following points -

People make decisions through rapid cognition and a concept known as thin-slicing—the ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behavior based on very narrow slices of experience. More than we realize, we evaluate a situation or a brand and frame our response before we ever consciously think about it.

Brains are pattern machines. These patterns make blink moments possible. However, the brain cannot command itself to go into “think blink” mode. Instead, it involuntarily retrieves from memory the feelings that drive blink encounters. Our brain does not remember exactly what it sees, hears or feels...

The relationships we feel are important in our world are stored as images in our unconscious mind and are linked directly to our emotions. In fact, we don’t really think in words, but more in pictures or images. The brain is elegantly designed to store whole concepts within an image. We store memories as images because they are more meaningful and easier to access quickly and automatically. Emotions are largely responsible for creating these memories and are the key to unlocking the meaning within.

There are two systems in the brain. One is for logic and reason. It resides in the neocortex, the outer layer.  The other is found in the limbic system, the emotional part of the brain. The emotional components appear in very discreet, well-identified and interconnected regions of the brain. The interconnection occurs in a handful of brain sites that are collectively known as the limbic system. One site in the system, the amygdala, is the brain region responsible for the subjective experience of the emotion. Another site, the hypothalamus, is responsible for triggering the physiological response of the emotion. The hypothalamus, amygdala, and cortex all feed back on each other in a complex alchemy of emotion and reason to coordinate the appropriate behavioral response. This information is also saved and stored by a third member of the limbic system, the hippocampus. All of these brain regions, from the higher cortex to lower limit systems, converge in a single brain region known as the cingulate cortex.  It is in the cingulate cortex that decisions are made. Reason and emotion commingle and we are able to coordinate our emotional response to direct our actions and thoughts. The decision making process does not work in the absence of an emotional signal from the limbic system.

Revealing patterns in the brain through a methodology called Emotional Research, a psychoanalytic-based technique designed to tap into memories, makes it possible for consumers to access emotions that drive their behaviors. Through directed relaxation and visualization exercises, consumers can recall experiences and reveal underlying emotions that cannot be accessed via conventional research. Visualization is critical to unlocking the emotional drivers.

Emotional Research reveals the elements that create a brand or a blink experience. The directed visualizations of the experiences that first encoded the emotion in a person’s memory banks are essential. This unlocks the memories, the emotions and the feelings that influence people’s behavior when faced with a similar experience.

Brands are about feelings, not facts.  Buying decisions are made on promises that transcend products, and promises are rooted in human emotions.  Quite simply, brands are built on trust. Making and keeping promises builds trust which is among the most basic of human emotions. To impact our company’s bottom line, we need to get in touch with our customers’ emotions.  Individuals have their own blink moments and embrace the reality that branding is about “brain surgery” and psychology. Because how your customers feel about your brand isn’t a casual question.  It is the crucial question....

Thus, brand blink concept helps marketers and advertisers to understand, target and influence customer buying behavior in a more effective manner.

Thanks for the referral, Shridhar....

Brand blink means understand the feelings and not facts. Brands are built on trust. Making and keeping promises builds trust which is among the most basic of human emotions.