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Can Neuromarketing Improve Campbell’s Soup?
By Marty Neumeier
In today’s Wall Street Journal (February 17, 2010), reporter Ilan Brat describes how Campbell’s is employing “neuromarketing” techniques to peel back the mysteries of label design. Using biometric tools such as eye-tracking, videotaping, and special vests that capture skin-moisture levels, heart rates, breathing patterns, and posture, researchers were able to compare the emotional responses of various consumers to the existing package line.
Among other things, they found that the Campbell’s logo, positioned against a red background on every package, made the varieties look so much alike that customers’ eyes glazed over when they scanned the offerings. They also found that the standard photo of a spoon lifting the soup from the bowl provoked zero emotional response. Finally, they heard from customers that the soup didn’t look warm enough.
The design response? Add color-coded bands at the top of each package to break the monotony; move the logo to the bottom; ditch the spoon; and add steam to the photo. Totally logical. Totally beautiful. Totally defensible. And totally inadequate. People don’t buy soup for the steam.
A 2005 analysis by Campbell’s showed that the usual techniques for testing advertising did little or nothing to improve sales, largely because they were asking people what they thought. Neuromarketing techniques, by contrast, are designed to measure what people feel. While this gets the company closer to understanding the actual drivers of shelf appeal, there’s only the tiniest of problems: it ignores the real reason people buy Campbell’s.
People buy Campbell’s not because of the steam but because they feel comfortable in the Campbell’s “tribe.” They simply believe that Campbell’s is the “right” product for them. And no amount of package tweaking will move the needle on that belief.
So what can Campbell’s do to improve sales? Improve the reasons to believe. Refocus the brand from the vision on out, then let the package designers express that vision with the skills they already have. When you find yourself using biometrics to test the emotional value of steam, you’ve already lost.
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Hi Marty,
Thanks for the post. It’s interesting to see how brands are starting to explore neuromarketing. What do you make of Martin Lindstrom’s book Buy-ology?
I haven’t read it yet. What did you learn from it?
It’s a fascinating (and scary) read on where marketing is headed. His premise is to understand rather than exploit the findings of neuroscience and its impact on marketing–though I find his claim somewhat suspect since he consults for a number of fortune 500 brands. One chapter I found particularly compelling covered the effect of restrictive tobacco advertising. Lindstrom reports on the findings of a neuro study of smokers that demonstrated that even though they believed warnings on cigarette packages were an effective deterrent to helping them reduce their consumption of nicotine, the data showed otherwise. The warning labels actually stimulated the craving spot of the brain, in effect triggering the desire for a nicotine fix. It’s worth a read.
Interesting. I enjoyed reading another book on the subject of the human brain, called HOW WE DECIDE, by Jonah Lehrer. It definitely supports Lindstrom’s thesis about craving. I often ask myself if highly successful brands are actually addictive brands. Science is finding out that believing is seeing, not the other way around.
In a non-related story in yesterday’s SF Chronicle, Campbell Soup Co. announced that it was lowering its FY 2010 sales forecast…and it is also lowering the sodium content and “revamp” its packaging -in an effort to appeal to more health-conscious consumers who are opting for lower cost store brands.
The article does not provide any details with regards to the packaging re-design. Here’s a link to the article: http://tinyurl.com/ygj9qkq
Alfredo Muccino
Chief Creative Officer, Liquid Agency
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