It’s in the name…

What is Branding Science about? Why is it different and distinctive?

The clue is in the name… Branding Science.

Our approach to research and brand development is grounded in the science of the mind and the science of behaviour.

It informs the way we design research, the methods and techniques we use, the way we analyse the outputs and the way we assess their meaning for your business.

Since the 19^th century many eminent scientists have used the principles of the ‘Scientific Method’ - objectivity, theory formulation, hypothesising, experimental observation, openness and critical review – to develop the science of behaviour.

This endeavour has continued for over 150 years, encompassing the ‘traditional’ sciences of the mind and behaviour - psychology, psychoanalysis, classical anthropology, social psychology, phenomenology and sociology… but now also benefiting from the more modern disciplines such as neuroscience, behavioural economics and NLP.

We take the very best from these disciplines and we fuse them into our ‘whole-brain philosophy’ of brands, brand research and brand development, so that our clients get the most impactful and compelling findings possible:

It’s in how we design our research:

• Because we know and understand ‘human cognition’ we find ways of pre-exposing people to materials before we interview them. This helps respondents assimilate data and messaging from those materials. In turn this gets us closer to a ‘real world’ response, emergent feelings and likely behaviour changes. In short more authentic and actionable recommendations for our clients.

• This same understanding of ‘cognition’ means that we use follow up interviews to see what thoughts, ideas, feelings and beliefs have remained or emerged with respondents after the event.

It’s in the techniques we employ

• From ‘cognitive neuroscience’ we see that brands are made up of complex webs of association stored in human memory and that brand relationships develop into visceral emotions [our ‘gut feelings’].

• We know, from our understanding of how the brain works, that these thoughts, feelings and associations are not readily accessible because they are in the sub-conscious or just taken for granted.

• So, in our brand research, we design ways of ‘surfacing’ those ‘taken for granted’ memories and associations, enabling us to give ‘dimension’ to and allowing us to take a measure of, brand feeling.

It’s in the way we analyse results

• Freud and the psychoanalysts articulated a raft of ‘mental mechanisms’ people use to evade awkward truths; by playing mental tricks on themselves.

• These mechanisms are as valid today as they were a hundred years ago.

• Applying concepts like ‘denial’, ‘rationalisation’ and ‘projection’ in our analytic processes means that we differentiate between the sometimes valid and sometimes evasive explanations that we hear in interviews.

It’s in the way we address business objectives:

• One of the biggest challenges in market research is how to link outputs  to your business objectives in practical, actionable ways.

• Our research design, development and delivery is underpinned by a breadth and depth of scientific knowledge, coupled with a deep understanding of your business needs.

• We understand the disciplines of objective reasoning and criticism: What do the research outputs really tell us? How do they reflect or impact on the business objectives underlying the research?

• By truly putting the science back into market research we can and do deliver ‘actionable’ findings and genuine insights that add real value and give our clients and their brands a sustainable competitive edge. That has to be something of interest to any of you reading this blog!

About the author: Jon Chandler has recently joined the Branding Science Group as a senior director.  He brings 30 plus years of market research experience to the Group and is well known in the industry as an innovator, leading edge thinker and highly effective practitioner.  Jon has joined Branding Science with a view to further deepening and broadening the scientific basis of our research approaches. In addition Jon aims to enhance the scope, range, depth of insight, action-ability and value added by our research offerings.

Lessons from Storytelling: Make your customer the Hero of your Brand’s story

Think for a second about your favourite character from a book you’ve read or a film you’ve watched. Or maybe that favourite character is from a television show, or even a podcast? What about this character makes them so great? Memorable? Is your character a hero or villain? What makes a character a hero or a villain for you?

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man

-         Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Is part of their appeal because you see yourself in them? Or rather, that you want to be them or have their experiences (and rewards, of course)? We all, on some level, would like to be the hero in an epic story, after all.

The main thing is here is that successful stories have compelling characters; without them, tales fall flat. So how are captivating characters created?

There’s a formula that writers like to follow in order to create compelling characters – be it heroes or villains – for their stories:

MC wants (External Goal) because (External Motivation) but (External Conflict).

Let’s look at this in a bit more detail: Characters, they say, have wants. These wants are governed by goals. Their goals come about because of motivation, but they always – and this is the crux of all the most memorable, most real characters – experience a conflict that prevents them from achieving their goals.

Now, I’m not asking that the pharmaceutical industry write the next New York Times Bestseller, or make a Hollywood blockbuster out of their brands.

But I believe there is something to this idea of making their customers the hero of their brand’s story, and not necessarily making the brand itself the hero.

It’s easy to walk into a physician’s office and tell them why a brand is the best product to treat their patients (typically this is done in the form of data). But does this truly impress physicians? Yes, it will, because they are medically trained to recognise superior products.

But what about when it is a crowded market space, where data for these products is similar and there isn’t much that can help to differentiate between them?

It might be suitable then to focus on your customer, rather than your product. The best way to do this? By making your customer the hero of your brand story. For example, taking the formula that authors like to use for their characters:

Physician wants to treat patients (Goal) because this is his job and it makes him feel happy (Motivation) but he doesn’t know which treatment is best (Conflict).

 By discussing your brand with your customer in this way, you are putting them at the centre of the story and helping them to fulfil their own needs but also be the hero for their patients.

Of course, this can be different depending on which culture you are in. For example, in the West heroes are typically individuals (e.g. Superman) whilst in the East they are often based on a collective’s triumphs. Knowing your market and your target customer is the key to any successful marketing strategy and one you must explore before you develop your brand story.

And again, who doesn’t wish to be a hero?

This article was written by Sofia Fionda Senior Research Executive at Branding Science

How to improve patient adherence?

On the 14th of March, Julie Buis (Aequus Research) and Peter Cunningham (Branding Science Group) delivered an EPhMRA webinar dedicated to patient adherence.

It was recognised that non-adherence to treatment is under-evaluated and that it has a considerable financial impact. Some groups of patients are more likely than others to show poor adherence to treatments and adherence varies across treatments and therapy areas. There are many causes for the lack of adherence, which may leave physicians frustrated and/or powerless. The pharmaceutical industry may be able to help, by developing patient support materials and programs, that will be endorsed by the relevant healthcare professionals. 

But beyond the execution and tools such as youtube videos and leaflets, we need to understand the underlying causes of non adherence as well as the key drivers for adherence. Understanding what drives adherence as well as what drives the lack of adherence will enable to develop strategies to encourage the right behaviour.

However, encouraging a certain behaviour (in this case patient adherence) is a very particular communication challenge because behaviours result from a multiplicity of interdependent factors. Hence, to increase patient adherence, the pharma industry and physicians alike need to understand the language as well as the arguments that resonate with patients.

The short film below illustrates the various purposes of communication and how a better understanding of your audience will help shape stronger, more effective messages.

If you would like to learn more about patient adherence, the webinar is still available for members on the EPhMRA website. It discussed the definitions of patient adherence and why it is an important issue for the pharmaceutical industry. It also explored further the causes for poor adherence and commented on the current array of programs designed to improve adherence.

The author: Axel Rousseau is brand scientist at Branding-Science and has been working on international market research and consultancy since 2008.

Getting strategy execution right

Pharmaceutical teams often have access to a wealth of information and insights to design their strategies. However, only a few of them may be relevant and the execution of the strategy may rely on a few key people. 

Hence, it is critical for brand teams to carefully examine their strategy and define very precisely how they are going to go about making sure it is executed to perfection.

Here is a short video from Michael Jarrett, INSEAD professor, introducing a few important points to consider in order to get strategy execution right.

The author: Axel Rousseau is brand scientist (SRE) at Branding-Science and has been working on international market research and consultancy since 2008.

Aligning Strategy and Sales

Advertising, conferences, Key Opinion Leaders, medical representatives, digital...Brand managers in the pharmaceutical industry have a wealth of opportunities to encourage conversations about their treatment. But if these conversations are not aligned with the brand strategy, the results can be disappointing.

With new digital communication channels, the importance of sales reps is frequently discussed but they are still a key element of the brand strategy - and they will remain, for the years to come, a critical source of information for physicians and the evidence of the involvement and interest a company pays into the scientific community. However, to provide value to both healthcare professionals and the brand they represent, their efforts must be aligned with the brand strategy.

Frank Cespedes, senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, explains how to connect what your people sell with your business goals.

The author: Axel Rousseau is brand scientist (SRE) at Branding-Science and has been working on international market research and consultancy since 2008.