CMOs: 3 Ways to be better ingrained in your consumers' mind

As a CMO, you've most likely wished that your potential customer thinks of your brand at the critical moment. During my studies at the Medill School of Northwestern University in the field of Integrated Marketing and Communications, two articles caught my attention which spoke about ways to keep a brand at the 'top of mind' of consumers.

The first article by Nir Eyal called "How to Manufacture Desire" (Publication: Psychology of Stuff) speaks about the Hook model and a loop process by which a brand can become a "habit" with the market it caters to. Each loop consists of a trigger by the brand, an action by the consumer, a reward for the consumer and an investment by the brand. The result: You become a habit! Don't think linear, says Nir, but rather cyclical. And with each cycle comes organic growth, both within the consumer's mind as well as the consumer's network.

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/source/garfield.com/

The second article, called "What Brands Can Learn From Pokémon Go" (Publication: Leo Burnett) is a case study of what is almost an execution of the concept presented in the first. John Dangles writes about how the game become a game-changer (pun intended) for digital platforms to capture the minds of the masses. And so too, could brands. It merged the digital and physical realms, giving brands a completely new playing field - particularly, restaurants, fast food joints and coffee shops. Going forward, the game's makers may be open to partnerships with such brands that are businesses with physical locations.

Reading these two articles and putting them in context to my studies in the field of IMC, here are three important and tangible things that you might consider:

• Enter their Routine - Make your brand part of the consumers’ everyday life. (Difficult? Yes. Impossible? No.)

• Loop! Don’t funnel - The age of the linear marketing funnel is gone.

• Leverage addiction - Being in the field of view is passé; become the unconscious choice.

As consumers become numb to traditional forms of marketing, so too must marketing and communication strategies evolve and seek ways to make the brand more ingrained into their everyday lives.

Anand Ramprasad is a marketer with experience on the agency as well as the client side of the table. He is currently an MSc. candidate at the Medill School of Northwestern University in the IMC program.
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