Using decision science to build breakthrough

creative ideas

February 2016

Thomas Bunnell

I wrote this presentation to introduce creative departments, client service teams and clients to some of the basics surrounding decision science – and how it can be meaningfully used in creative and strategic development. The theories and examples have been taken from the work of leading thinkers in this field, including Daniel Kahneman, Phil Barden and Byron Sharpe.This deck was written as a presentation (and not originally intended to be read) but hopefully some of the key ideas are still clear.

About this presentation

1. How we make decisions a. Introducing System 1 and System 2

2. How we can get people to think less and buy morea. Decreasing the painb. Increasing the reward

3. How we can apply theory to creativea. Decoding TV Ads

What this presentation covers

1. Provide new thinking on ways we can develop creative strategies and ideas

2. Provide a shared language to help explain, defend, and sell-in highly creative ideas

3. Build upon our knowledge of how advertising works

How this presentation can help our work

Informed by the leading industry texts

Part one: How we make decisions

Kahneman’s theory on decision making

System one

Autopilot

Automatic

Associative

System two

Pilot

Thinking

Slow

Activities

● Saying your phone number

● Driving a car

● The body’s reaction to a flame

Activities

● Solving a tough maths problem

● Learning a language

● Following a map

Intuitive and low-energy

Reflective and high-energy

Say the colour

BLUE

YELLOW

ORANGE

RED GREEN

ORANGE PURPLE

GREEN

GREEN

ORANGE

YELLOW

BLUE

RED

RED

GREEN

YELLOW

RED

PURPLE

PURPLE

PURPLE

BLUE YELLOW

BLUE ORANGEPURPLE

Say the colour not the word

BLACK

ORANGE

RED

GREEN PINK

WHITE YELLOW

YELLOW

BLUE

WHITE

BLUE

PURPLE

BLACK

YELLOW

ORANGE

GREEN

BLACK

BLUE

BLUE

PINK

GREEN RED

RED WHITEORANGE

“System one is really the one that is the more influential; it is guiding System two, it is steering System two to a very large extent” Daniel Kahneman

Marketing activities need to activate System one and circumvent System two, i.e. get people to think less and buy

Part two: How we can get people to think less and buy more

Continually refresh memory structures

Fulfil implicit and explicit goals throughout all

stages of the experience: context, product, brand

and comms

Be present at all stages of the purchase journey

- mentally and physically

Three approaches to getting people to buy

Address any areas of resistance to buying

Learned behaviour

Maximise the rewardMinimise the painBe available

Buying is based on a simple calculation

=OFC Ventral Straitum Insular Cortex

-

Net valuePainReward

Decreasethe pain

Thus, there are two levers we can pull to maximise net value

Increase the reward

To decrease the painwe need to consider how we position and present value

Availability

Decreasing the pain using behavioural economics

Framing Anchoring

90% lean 10% fat

Loss aversionPermissibilitySocial Proof

Decreasing the pain using behavioural economics [Cont’d.]

To increase the rewardwe need to appeal to people’s ‘explicit’ and ‘implicit’ goals

Pleasing scent, restore and soften skin

Explicit goals are specific to a given product category and are vital to buyers

Gets you from A to B

Tasty, filling, and gives

energy

Implicit goals are deep psychological needs

Security

Care, trust, closeness, security, warmth

Excitement

Vitality, fun, curiosity, creativity, change

Autonomy

Pride, success, power,superiority, recognition

Enjoyment

Relaxation, light-heartedness, openness, pleasure

Adventure

Freedom, discovery, rebellion, courage, risk

Discipline

Precision, order, logic, reason

Signals and associations within the brand experience help serve implicit goals

Product ExperienceCommunications Context

Thus, motivational theory can help us in two ways

1. Develop value propositions

2. Provide guidance for creative signals and associations

1. Developing value propositions

SoupEnjoyment:

relaxation, light heartedness,

openness, pleasure, relief

It can be eaten with sides, adapted with spices, or even used as a base to create a stew, curry or laksa

Product/Feature Explicit Goal Implicit Goal

‘Brand X’ soups make your meal improvisation magnificent’

2. Provide guidance for creative signals and associations

Explicit goals

● Is it a feature no-one else owns?● Is it a mature category?● How important is the feature to

people?

Considerations when assigning explicit and implicit goals

Implicit goals

● What’s the dominant implicit goal of the category?

● Who is the target audience?● What are the positive and negative

brand associations?● How does it relate to the product

experience/explicit goal?

Part three: How we can apply theory to creative

Value proposition development using motivational theory

Product/Feature Explicit goal Implicit goal Brand

Automatic braking system

Automatic braking system

Automatic braking system

Shorter braking distance

Shorter braking distance

Shorter braking distance

Superiority: owning advanced technology

Driving pleasure: we can drive faster, as the

system can react quicker

Safety: we can help protect ourselves and

our family

Phil Barden, Decoded

Mercedes-Benz

Product/Feature

Explicit goalShorter braking distance

Implicit goal

Automatic braking system

Superiority

http://youtube.com/v/j_Q5s_LqxJ8

Mercedes-Benz

Product/Feature

Explicit goalShorter braking distance

Implicit goal

Automatic braking system

?

http://youtube.com/v/_DrJiOjN7nE

Toyota

Product/Feature

Explicit goalNever breaks down

Implicit goal

Built with quality engineering

Sagaciousness

http://youtube.com/v/vbsyEI78m5s

Southern Comfort

Product/Feature

Explicit goalRefreshment

Implicit goal

Alcoholic spirit

Confidence/Autonomy

http://youtube.com/v/ygeWsoYYMuQ

Orangina

Product/Feature

Explicit goalA refreshing drink

Implicit goal

A drink you need to shake

Excitement (adult)

http://youtube.com/v/rZJDqWmrS-E

Marlboro

Product/Feature

Explicit goalA pick-me-up

Implicit goal

Full-flavour cigarettes

Autonomy

Creative needs fulfil goals in distinct and exciting ways

Security Adventure

Enjoyment Excitement

Discipline Autonomy

Phil Barden, Decoded

Culture is the gateway

1. System 1 (autopilot) and System 2 (pilot) are the two processes involved in decision making

2. ‘Increasing the reward’ and ‘decreasing the pain’ are ways we can encourage people to buy

a. Behavioural economic frameworks can help us decrease the pain in buyingb. Serving implicit and explicit goals can help us increase the reward and

provides guidance for signals and associations within the brand experience

3. Breakthrough creative needs to find distinct and culturally relevant ways to serve implicit goals

Recap

Thank you