The Persuaders

Dr. Rapaille, labeled as a “marketing guru” in the PBS special The Persuaders, was tasked to find out what really makes the consumer tick. What really drives a consumer to behave a certain way? Rapaille and many others believe that consumers present reasons that are inconsistent with behavior, so Rapaille studies people to understand the underlying or hidden messages that consumers present when reasoning their purchases.

Coming from a psychiatric background, Rapaille was forced to decode the issues of mute, autistic children. Applying his experience and learnings from his previous work, Rapaille helps marketers decode consumer actions. To do this, he uses a 3-step technique in focus groups to get to the bottom of human behavior. The 3-step technique involves:

1) Listening to a consumer’s reason
2) Getting to the emotional aspect of their behaviors
3) Tapping into their primal core to find the true rationale behind their behavior

In the first stage of understanding reason, Rapaille makes it seem like the participants are in a regular focus group. In the study that PBS showed, Rapaille was trying to decode what luxury meant to the consumer. By asking them to associate words with the word “luxury”, participants were able to show that they were logical and intelligent. Rapaille has discovered that people have a tendency to show these characteristics, so this stage allows them to do so. He is not really interested in the content of their feedback; he is just trying to let them get beyond this stage so he can move to the next two, more important, stages.

After a short break, he asks the participants to tell a story to convey “luxury” to a 5 year old from a foreign planet. This process enables Rapaille to tap into the emotional viewpoints of the participants about the word “luxury”. No longer are they trying to show that they are rational, logical thinkers, they are now just trying to convey a thought to a simple-minded 5 year old. This is a very important step to Rapaille because he is now beginning to really understand the most basic meanings of “luxury” to the consumer. They are being more simplistic in their descriptions, as one would be when speaking to a 5 year old.

At this point, the participants are utterly confused as to what is going on. They are given another break and then in for another surprise in the last session, or stage, or the 3-step technique. To tap into the primal core of the participants, Rapaille tries to get the focus group members in the most vulnerable state as possible. After letting them relax and rest in darkness, he tries to capture their thoughts right when they wake. According to the marketing guru, the thoughts of an individual when they wake up in the morning reflect their “primal urges”. By stimulating this state of mind, he is able to capture dormant thoughts that are not readily accessible in other states of mind. Studying the thoughts expressed upon awakening, Rapaille is able to identify the “reptilian hot buttons that compel [them] to action”.

While Rapaille does not convey exact findings about the public's associations with the word luxury, he does let the audience know that the reptile brain is the most important, latent aspect that we overlook or fail to discover when considering consumer insights. The reptile brain contains all our first impressions and associations of things, and these impressions and associations are what influence our daily activity and decisions. For example, he coded SUVs to mean "dominance", causing many SUV manufacturers to build larger vehicles with tinted windows.

With the 3-stage technique, Rapaille convinces many Fortune 500 executives that there is a simple code to understanding what makes the consumer tick. Based on testimonies, executives honestly believe that this technique has allowed Rapaille tap into the hidden drivers that bring a consumer to behave a certain way.

The second part of this blog asks that we evaluate the marketing technique of Song Airlines. Specifically, we are asked whether we think the image that Song has tried to exude was a good or bad idea and areas that we think could have been improved.

I disagreed with the strategy that Song Airlines employed. They identified themselves as a low-cost airline, but their marketing did not express this at all to the consumer. From their commercials and in-store marketing, it seemed like they were more of a high-end airline. With offerings like organic meals and retail outlets, it appeared that they were appealing to a consumer that had high demands rather than the no-frill consumer looking to put the smallest dent in their wallet. As one of the marketing team members of Song said, low-price airline seekers are only looking for a cheap ticket. The strategy that Song used did not show this at all. In fact, if I had seen the commercial done by Mr. Spade, I would have had no idea that Song was catering to the price-conscious consumer. From the commercial, I drew that Song was an airline that was catered to the middle-class, family oriented consumer.

Some things that the airline did well were the “training” of the employees and the focus on the importance of the logo. By making sure that they hired a specific type of employee that was especially “song”, the company was able to convey a very unique message. Their focus on the logo was also well done because it helped solidify a concrete brand image. Both the employees and the logo were consistent with the fun feeling that I got from the brand.

One thing that I did not like about the Song branding was the interior they chose for the airlines. I know they were trying to convey the youthfulness and spunk of the company, but I felt it made the airline seem very unprofessional. By using extremely bright colors for the upholstery, they seemed like a childish brand that would not necessarily appeal to most consumers. Because a plane is a place you hope to relax before and after your busy trip, distracting colors would probably not please the flyer.

One other flaw I saw was the fact that Song was trying to create buzz that only created confusion. Specific examples include the green-suited men with monitors around their necks and the physical retail stores. This definitely caught the attention of the consumer, but they were only left confused about what Song was. Song should have made much clearer messages to the consumer if they decided to use these avenues to create awareness. They were adding more to the clutter rather than standing out in the mess of information.