The Best Marketing Ever | Art Of Selling | NEURO MARKETING | SHOT BY SHOT

Summary

In the 1970s, Nestlé struggled to introduce coffee to the tea-loving Japanese market. Despite positive focus group results, coffee failed to gain traction. Marketing expert Clutter, with a unique background in child psychiatry, identified that consumer decisions are driven by subconscious instincts. He suggested introducing coffee-flavored candies to connect with Japanese consumers' existing cultural habits. This strategy gradually built an emotional connection with coffee, leading to its eventual success in Japan. The key takeaway: successful marketing taps into subconscious desires, making the consumer the hero of the story.

Takeaways

• 😀 The majority of consumer decisions are driven by subconscious instincts, often referred to as the 'reptilian brain.'
• 😀 Even logical, modern humans make decisions based on deep-rooted subconscious desires that are often unspoken.
• 😀 In the 1970s, Nestlé faced a challenge in Japan where coffee was not as culturally ingrained as tea, despite positive focus group results.
• 😀 Although Japanese consumers liked the taste of coffee, they chose tea due to deep cultural associations formed in childhood.
• 😀 Nestlé’s initial marketing strategy failed because it did not account for Japan’s ingrained cultural preference for tea.
• 😀 To address this, Nestlé brought in marketing expert Clutter, who focused on tapping into subconscious instincts rather than conscious preferences.
• 😀 Clutter’s key insight was that people often cannot express what they truly desire because these desires are unconscious.
• 😀 Clutter had previously worked with Jeep and helped them re-establish the symbolic connection between their brand and the American spirit of freedom by restoring round headlights.
• 😀 For Nestlé, Clutter recommended introducing coffee to Japanese children through coffee-flavored candies, creating an early, subconscious connection to the taste of coffee.
• 😀 The success of this strategy shows the importance of understanding cultural conditioning and subconscious associations in marketing.
• 😀 The key takeaway is that, in marketing, the consumer should be made the hero of the story, and products must resonate with deep, unconscious desires rather than just rational preferences.

Q & A

What does the script suggest about the difference between products and brands?

The script emphasizes that products are made in factories, but brands are created in the mind. The decision-making process, especially in marketing, is heavily influenced by the subconscious, specifically the ancient, reptilian brain.

Why did Nestlé's initial marketing strategy for coffee fail in Japan?

Despite positive feedback from focus groups, Nestlé's coffee failed in Japan because Japanese consumers had a deep cultural connection to tea, and they preferred it over coffee, even though they liked the taste of coffee.

How did Nestlé attempt to understand consumer behavior in Japan before launching their coffee?

Nestlé conducted several focus groups with consumers from different age groups to gauge their response to coffee. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, but it didn't translate into actual sales.

Who was Clutter, and why was he brought into the marketing strategy?

Clutter was a child psychiatrist with experience working with autistic children. His unique perspective led him to believe that people often aren't fully aware of their unconscious desires. He was brought in to help Nestlé tap into these unconscious motivations and better understand why coffee wasn't selling.

What was Clutter's approach to marketing based on his experience with unconscious desires?

Clutter believed that humans' true desires were unconscious and that people often couldn't articulate what they really wanted. He used this understanding to help brands tap into deeper emotional connections with consumers.

How did Clutter's marketing insight help Jeep's sales?

Clutter advised Jeep to return to using round headlights, as he understood that the round shape symbolized freedom, a core value for American consumers. Jeep had previously switched to square headlights, losing this connection, but when they switched back, sales skyrocketed.

What cultural factor did Clutter identify as the key to marketing Nestlé coffee in Japan?

Clutter recognized that Japanese consumers had no strong connection to coffee, unlike their cultural association with tea, which was deeply ingrained from childhood. He understood that this lack of connection was the main reason coffee wasn't selling.

What marketing strategy did Clutter recommend to Nestlé to introduce coffee to Japan?

Clutter recommended introducing coffee through coffee-flavored candies, targeting children. This allowed kids to develop a taste for coffee gradually, which eventually led them to drink cold coffee beverages, and ultimately, hot coffee.

How did Nestlé's strategy change after Clutter's advice, and what was the result?

After implementing Clutter's strategy, Nestlé successfully introduced coffee to Japanese consumers by first capturing the taste preferences of children with coffee candies. This eventually led to a full acceptance of coffee in the market, even though coffee had previously been unpopular.

What is the main takeaway from the story about Nestlé's coffee in Japan?

The main takeaway is that understanding unconscious desires and cultural context is key to successful marketing. Even though consumers may express one preference, their deeper, unconscious motivations can drive entirely different behaviors, as seen with Nestlé's shift to candy-based marketing in Japan.