Here are the key points from the 10 tips document in 3 sentences or less: The document provides 10 tips for improving advertising by leveraging insights about how the brain processes information. Tip 1 discusses using emotionally charged words to grab attention. Tip 2 recommends influencing the emotional state of viewers by considering their emotional state and using body language. Tip 3 notes that motion grabs attention and should be linked to the product or brand.

1. 10 tips to improve your advertising In this guide you will find some brain facts that can be used in advertising to improve whatever targets you are striving for. It’s my personal opinion so if you have any questions or comments, please drop me an e-mail.

2. 1. Use the attentional blink The act of identifying stimuli quickly after one another leads to a brief refractory period in our brain. Our brain takes a millisecond’s rest to process stimuli. Meaning if you see 2 words you forget the first one completely UNLESS you use emotionally charged words. So, when attentional resources are limited, emotional stimuli are more likely to reach awareness.

3. 2. Influence the emotional state Our emotional state is directly related to our attitude. We experience difficulties when our mental state isn’t in synch with our body. For example: try to relax with your fist clenched. Emotions do not only work inside out, but also outside in. Meaning that our mirror neurons copy the body language of who ever we are looking at. So, think about the medium you are advertising in/ on and the emotional state people are in.

4. 3. Motion moves Information/ stimuli about motion reaches the brain first (by some 20 milliseconds). But we also have a verb–behavorial link. If we see someone do something, the same areas in the brain light up than if we actually do them ourselves. So, advertisers can use motion in ads to grab the attention of viewers more easily. But can also pick there words carefully so that the word is linked to the motion, which is linked back to the product or brand name.

5. 4. Malleable memory Our memory is extremely malleable and inaccurate, certainly after a period of time. The power of it is that consumers are not aware they have been influenced. You can influence someone’s memory by backward framing for example. If you see a bad movie and all the critics write rave reviews, you think to yourself “ah, it wasn’t that bad at all”.

6. 5. Pack functional with emotional As our memory tends to remember more when things have an emotional impact. Advertisers should always represent a functional benefit with and emotional benefit. For example: Your product + emotional benefit = consumer’s perception Car + baby = safety Coffee + friends/ laughter = family/ bonding

7. 6. Left is right Our left hemisphere of the brain is specialized in language and reading, because of it’s contralateral connection it scans the right side of a space. It recognizes words, not emotion Our right hemisphere processes emotions and scans the left space. Preferably people like to read text on the right and visuals/ emotions on the left.

8. 7. Rewiring a la mode Our brain is so sensitive to external experiences that you can literally rewire it through exposure to cultural influences. Mind that the brain isn’t interested in reality, it’s interested in survival which arises from the reptilian brain. So it will change the perception of reality to stay in survival mode. My opinion is that if you stay true to the basic core values of the reptilian brain your advertising will have more impact on a deeper level (limbic and reptilian brain).

9. 8. Apples and pears By now your feeling is right if you say we act on our reptilian brain and our limbic system compared to ratio (the 95/5 split). Our reptilian brain likes to compare (experiences, objects, feelings etc). Therefore we tend to focus on things that we can compare easily and cancel out the one that isn’t in line. Advertisers can use this rule in product comparison. Place a decoy! Keep in mind what you want to sell and place something comparable to your product next to it. Something that’s obviously a worse deal (the decoy). Finally place something out of line next to that and people will go for the best comparable deal.

10. 9. No-budget We constantly live in 2 worlds. One where there are prices (the market place) and one where social norms apply. If you ask someone to do something for money, market norms apply and they will compare pay, fee, commission, etc. to market standards. If you ask them to do you a favour, social norms apply and the need for e.g. community and pleasure take place. For example if you want to set up some free publicity campaign or a no-budget campaign think of what you can offer your target group in exchange for word-of-mouth, viral, product use, case studies etc.

11. 10. Unleashing creativity Not directly linked to advertising to a target group but very important to the process before it is unleashing a creative brainstorm. One interesting way to get there is hemi-sync. Hemi-sync is a cd with music (and tones we can’t directly hear) which synch up our left hemisphere and right hemisphere. It puts us in a whole-brain state where we can optimally use our left and right brain together. This might be the key to men in advertising as the male brain has more trouble talking, thinking and feeling emotion.