1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,000 Tell me about your vision. 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:04,000 My vision? 3 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:06,000 You know, for me, I think 4 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:11,000 I have a unique space that I work in, which is consumer psychology. 5 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:16,000 My background is in psychology, but doctorate in clinical psychology, 6 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,000 but I realized I didn't love being a therapist. 7 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,000 And I had to figure out some other options. 8 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,000 And I led my first focus group, boy, 30 years ago, 9 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:29,000 and fell in love with that process. 10 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:34,000 And so I love psychology, and I love in particular understanding 11 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,000 how people make decisions, what makes them tick, 12 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:44,000 what are the motivations that drive even some of the most mundane types of decisions. 13 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,000 So what type of laundry do I buy? 14 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,000 Well, that seems like such a boring subject, but when you really dig deep, 15 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:55,000 you find there's a lot of influences and factors under the surface 16 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:57,000 that influence why people choose the things they do. 17 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,000 And so I charted a course. 18 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:05,000 At the time, there were no working consumer psychologists. 19 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:10,000 Most of them, any that existed were primarily professors. 20 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:19,000 And so I really blazed a trail there, but my vision is 21 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:26,000 using marketing, advertising, sales for good, 22 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:33,000 because I think that we have the opportunity to make people's lives easier, 23 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,000 make them more enjoyable, make decisions easier, 24 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:40,000 make shopping, making choices, more informed, more confident. 25 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:49,000 And I think using what I do as a force for that is something that I feel very strongly about. 26 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,000 Thank you for sharing that, Chris. 27 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:54,000 So tell me more about that. 28 00:01:54,000 --> 00:02:01,000 Tell me more how psychology and marketing come into play. 29 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:06,000 Yeah, well, you know, there's a lot of psychology in marketing, 30 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,000 because we do want to understand what is going to resonate with people. 31 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:18,000 And for me, I think one of the things that I really feel passionate about is the power of empathy in marketing, 32 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,000 in life in general, but in marketing. 33 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:26,000 And helping people to develop their sense of empathy. 34 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:31,000 We talk a lot about insights and doing research and developing insights into people. 35 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:36,000 I really encourage the people that I work with, my clients and people, my colleagues, 36 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:41,000 to think about it as developing empathy rather than simply insight, 37 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:49,000 because I think that the ability to see and experience through someone else's eyes 38 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:56,000 is a really powerful way of helping, you know, understanding what's frustrating for them, 39 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:01,000 understanding what solutions, what needs they would like, 40 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:05,000 what they're trying to accomplish in their lives, the aspirations they have, 41 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:10,000 and then using marketing as a way of not convincing people just to buy something once, 42 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:15,000 but by forming a relationship with them where they know and trust 43 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:19,000 that you're looking out for ways to make their lives better. 44 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:26,000 And so I really... 45 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:31,000 My eye ticks a lot when I hear people talking about psychology tricks in marketing 46 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:36,000 and that sort of thing, because you can... 47 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:40,000 One of the biggest questions I get all the time is, oh, consumer psychology. 48 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,000 So you trick people into buying stuff they don't need. 49 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:49,000 And I used to be irritated with that question, but I actually love that question now, 50 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:55,000 because it gives me a way to talk about the power of marketing, the power of empathy. 51 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:59,000 You know, as marketers, we are sophisticated enough. 52 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,000 We have the tools, you know, we have the technology. 53 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,000 We can get anyone to buy something once. 54 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,000 But that's not really smart strategy. 55 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:10,000 You know, think about yourself. 56 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:13,000 You know, you buy something and you feel like you've been duped 57 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:15,000 or you feel like you've been manipulated. 58 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:19,000 Usually people's first reaction is resistance. 59 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:23,000 And if that continues, then it can go into anger, frustration, 60 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:28,000 and then ultimately, it can lead to avoidance. 61 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,000 You know, we don't... People don't like feeling like they're manipulated. 62 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,000 People want to feel like they have agency in their lives. 63 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,000 They're making decisions that are best for them. 64 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,000 And when they feel like they've been manipulated, 65 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:43,000 that can have really damaging effects on relationship with the brand 66 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:47,000 and openness to a brand, willingness to listen, 67 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:53,000 to be willing, you know, to take advice, those types of things. 68 00:04:53,000 --> 00:05:02,000 And so I really feel strongly that when we put ourselves in the audience's shoes, 69 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:08,000 our target, you know, market shoes, what we're doing is seeking ways 70 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:12,000 to understand them on their terms and then develop ideas, solutions, 71 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:16,000 innovations that work for them. 72 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:20,000 And I think when you do that consistently, you develop trust. 73 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:33,000 And that's really golden for any brand or product.