Lindstrom, Buyology Inc and Brand-Image

I attended Martin Lindstrom's talk at Brand-Image in Cincinnati today. This was the third time I had been in on Lindstrom presentations. He pointed out that much of his work is still research, but very useful in better understanding the consumer, even in its early development. Today you can go to his site and download his slides using the password 'fabulous'. I also reviewed and recommend his book, which has lots more.

Lindstrom gave a good overview of some parts of his book, outlining how in particular rituals in retail can be both positive and negative to the retailer and manufacturer. He covered briefly his controversial findings about branding and religion. He also emphasized the uniqueness of the 2000 scan data base that has provided many opportunities for pattern mining.

Next Gary Singer, CEO of the newly established Buyology Inc spoke about how his company will be implementing some of Lindstrom's work. In particular they have developed what they call 'Neurotypes', which allow a customer to readily understand how their customers brands link to the patterns derived from Lindstrom's brain scan database. These classifications can then be used to market to consumers and even optimize the kinds of media to be used. He also made it clear that Buyology Inc was not tied to any specific biometric technology such as fMRI and was linking to a number of key analysis vendors.


Julie Anixter CMO of Brand Image gave a talk on a collaborative investigative project with Buyology Inc. Specifically to evaluate packaging using some of Buyology Inc's non-conscious classification methods. They are looking for participants at relatively low cost. You can be part of a powerful new methodology. Contact Julie for more information at: janixter@brand-image.com

Overall a good talk that led from Lindstrom's inspiration via his experiments and book to the establishment of a company to deliver results and then the launch of a specific project to test the idea.