Prodo - Total Marketing Solutions

Back in the early 90’s First Direct was the first bank to use event driven marketing. Put simply this means scanning the purchasing patterns on your recent bank statement and deducing that all that spending in Mothercare and Boots can only mean a couple of things. Either you’ve got a nappy fetish or, more likely, you just had an addition to the family.

This would prompt a landslide of direct mail congratulating you on your new addition and subtly, or not in most cases, selling you a loan to buy all those additional purchases. The problem is that most people have already made allowances by that time so most of these messages were wasted.

Well now a team of world-leading neuroscientists have developed a powerful technique that allows them to look deep inside a person’s brain and read their intentions before they act. Now I know that there are some serious ethical issues here, but you can’t but wonder what the future holds for direct marketing when this kind of technology gets cheap enough to be used by Boots and Mothercare.

Imagine walking into Boots with your new girlfriend and being advised by the mind reading electronic assistant that nappies are in isle three and there is a 2 for the price of 1 special offer on at the moment.

Joking aside this type of technology is on the way whether you like it or not and although I’m not advocating making people wear mind reading helmets when they go shopping I can see the odd benefit to marketeers. For years we have been advising clients that in order to avoid being labelled a spammer, direct marketing should be relevant and based on information gathered from a comprehensive data capture process. Not always easy when most people can’t be bothered completing a simple form unless they are going to be rewarded with a bottle of champaign or the chance to win a new Harley Davidson.

The recent research by the Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Germany builds on a series of recent studies in which brain imaging has been used to identify tell-tale activity linked to lying, violent behaviour and racial prejudice. well, if we could analyse people’s brainwaves to determine whether they are likely to turn nasty any minute, surely we can also determine whether they are more likely to choose a skiing holiday or a weekend break to Venice.

Never again would you see another banner advert for Viagra, well not until your mind decides you need to.

Written by Simon Hetherington [Internet Marketing Director] Prodo Ltd