New technology alters human brain

A recent article on the Marketing Week website today claims that the development of modern technology and the tendency of consuming multiple media simultaneously have changed the human brain, increasing people’s multi-tasking abilities but limiting their attention span.

This shift means that marketers have to act accordingly in order to capture the attention of a new generation of consumers. Statistics show that well over half of the people in the UK watch TV and browse the Internet at the same time a few times per week and multi-screening is becoming more common all the time.

Baroness Greenfield, professor of pharmacology at the University of Oxford, thinks that brands risk losing their customers if they do not adopt new advertising methods, with companies like BT and Microsoft already working on meeting customers’ demand.

The Baroness suggests that multi-screen viewing hinders concentration, especially at the point where the attention is shifted from one screen to the other. That is why marketers should focus on presenting content that may be equally relevant to different audiences and appropriate for various devices.

Providing sensory experience and interaction is another way of grabbing the attention of consumers and making them more engaged with brands. Similarly, a good strategy would be making a consumer feel acknowledged and important, while at the same time giving them the chance to share the experience.

There has been a tremendous uplift in sensory marketing in the last 12-months, and we’ve been working with a number of drinks brands on multi-sensory experiences. We’re already at a stage where the right multi-sensory campaign can determine a consumers choice directly at the point of purchase.