As a journeyman consumer packaged
goods marketer, I wanted to know
more about the brains of my customers.
Later, as a B-to-B technology marketer,
I sometimes wondered if my buyers
had brains. Why would they buy from
IBM because “nobody ever got fired for
buying from IBM”? Why buy technology
out of fear versus the rational business
benefits of products and services
offered by Big Blue?
I knew about the way the brain worked
from Al Ries and Jack Trout’s book, Positioning:
The Battle for Your Mind. Ries
would lead off lectures on positioning
asking, “Who was the first man on the
moon?” We would respond in unison: “Neil
Armstrong.” But who was the second and
who was in the command module of Apollo
11? None of us could recall Michael Collins’
or Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin’s names.
We knew the yin and yang of the left
(logical) brain and right (creative) brain.
Then I read Frogs Into Princes, a book
by Richard Bandler and John Grinder.
It described neuro-linguistic programming
and shed some light on communication
and behavior. I scoured Daniel
Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence, a classic
text on behavior and business success.
I even read Descartes’ Error: Emotion,
Reason, and the Human Brain by Antonio
R. Damasio, which explained brain function
and offered amazing stories of brain
injury survivors.
I was bewildered in my search for
a functional understanding of how a
marketer could apply knowledge of the
brain to practical marketing communications
problems until I met Patrick
Renvoise, president of San Francisco-based
SalesBrain, a sales and communications
boutique consultancy that helps organizations
including Alcatel, Arevea, Axa, GE,
HP and Silicon Valley Bank improve their
messaging and sales effectiveness.
“Most communication is targeted to
the neocortex or the new brain,” Renvoise
says. “We develop logical sales messages
that are aimed at the neocortex, but they
have absolutely no impact on the old brain.
The old reptilian brain doesn’t understand
words. [For it] you’ve got to find a way to
illustrate. You have to create images and
tell stories that generate emotions. These
will have more impact and influence [on
the combined brain] than purely logical
appeals,” Renvoise says.
Now I’m not saying Renvoise is the only
neural marketer out there, but I like his
understanding of neural science and his
practical bent for helping marketing and
sales executives. He’s familiar with all the
primary texts on neural science, but more
importantly, he’s built a concrete model
and methodology that marketers and sales
leaders can follow to apply the raw ideas
of brain science to the practical business
of communicating, marketing, selling and
making profits.
Says Steve Tonissen, CMO of Lisle, Ill.-
based predictive analytics software provider
SmartSignal Corp.: “Patrick has synthesized
the neural science work and provided
a practical method to implement these
concepts in our business.
“The idea that you establish the customer’s
pain, differentiate your claims, measurably
prove the gain the buyer receives and
then deliver it to the ‘old’ brain—[that]
works for us. What makes them exceptional
is they help us identify a way to really stand
out,” Tonissen says.
Renvoise grew up in Paris and studied
computer science at the National Institute
of Applied Science, where he received his
master’s degree in 1983. After completing
his military service, he led sales for a
French electronics start-up.
In 1988 he was recruited by Silicon
Graphics to open its sales office in Toulouse,
where he gained experience selling to clients
such as Airbus, the European Space Agency
and Renault. His boss, Bob Bishop, then
president of Silicon Graphics International
and later the CEO of Silicon Graphics,
recruited Renvoise to work at headquarters
in Mountain View, Calif.
“[From] 1989 to 1995, we were the
Google of our day,” Renvoise says.
“Remember Jurassic Park, the movie?
All of the images were created on Silicon
Graphics’ machines. The landing gear of
the space shuttle was designed and simulated
on Silicon Graphics’ machines. The
same for the wings of Boeing jets and topof–
the-line BMWs.”
Renvoise managed international
sales and marketing at headquarters and
supported the international sales organization.
In 1996, Renvoise got bit by the entrepreneurial
bug.
He worked with three start-ups from
1996 to 2001, including Accom Inc., a
maker of real-time virtual television studios
that went public in 1996; Live Picture, a
maker of picture-editing software that was
headed by former Apple CEO John Scully;
and Linuxcare, a provider of customer
support services for Linux users that was
backed by Kleiner Perkins.
“All three of the ventures had great
technology,” Renvoise says, but that wasn’t
enough. They had to have marketing and
sales execution that moved buyers. It was
there that the ventures came up short. “If
you can’t explain the product and move the
buyer in a few words and images, it’s not
going to succeed,” he says.
Learning this lesson, Renvoise
co-authored Neuromarketing:
Understanding the “Buy Buttons” in
Your Customer’s Brain. He founded
SalesBrain almost by accident.
Renvoise had been interested in
the science of the brain and had
studied all the popular sales methodologies.
“Each [sales] method gave
me incremental advantage, [but] they
weren’t comprehensive and they didn’t
take into account the brain’s function.
They were teaching the art of selling
without scientific justification.”
“The people reading our book started
asking if we would consult with them.
Companies like Stratex (now Harris Stratex),
a microwave radio provider, came
to us and asked if we could translate our
ideas into programs. The rest is history,”
Renvoise says.
Renvoise’s advice to young marketers
and sales executives is to start by working
with the brain. “Truly put yourself in the
head of your customer. You can no longer
ignore the huge research that has been done
on the brain.”
“If I knew as a young marketer what I know
today, I would be retired,” Renvoise quips. m
Michael Krauss is president of
Market Strategy Group based in
Chicago, and can be reached at
Michael.Krauss@Mkt-strat.com or
news@ama.org
By Michael Krauss
win The brain game
“Put yourself in the head of your customer. You
can no longer ignore the huge research that has
been done on the brain.”
22
at c-level//vp marketingnews 12.30.09
viewpoint { at c-level }
Copyright of Marketing News is the property of American Marketing Association and its content may not be
copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written
permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
goods marketer, I wanted to know
more about the brains of my customers.
Later, as a B-to-B technology marketer,
I sometimes wondered if my buyers
had brains. Why would they buy from
IBM because “nobody ever got fired for
buying from IBM”? Why buy technology
out of fear versus the rational business
benefits of products and services
offered by Big Blue?
I knew about the way the brain worked
from Al Ries and Jack Trout’s book, Positioning:
The Battle for Your Mind. Ries
would lead off lectures on positioning
asking, “Who was the first man on the
moon?” We would respond in unison: “Neil
Armstrong.” But who was the second and
who was in the command module of Apollo
11? None of us could recall Michael Collins’
or Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin’s names.
We knew the yin and yang of the left
(logical) brain and right (creative) brain.
Then I read Frogs Into Princes, a book
by Richard Bandler and John Grinder.
It described neuro-linguistic programming
and shed some light on communication
and behavior. I scoured Daniel
Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence, a classic
text on behavior and business success.
I even read Descartes’ Error: Emotion,
Reason, and the Human Brain by Antonio
R. Damasio, which explained brain function
and offered amazing stories of brain
injury survivors.
I was bewildered in my search for
a functional understanding of how a
marketer could apply knowledge of the
brain to practical marketing communications
problems until I met Patrick
Renvoise, president of San Francisco-based
SalesBrain, a sales and communications
boutique consultancy that helps organizations
including Alcatel, Arevea, Axa, GE,
HP and Silicon Valley Bank improve their
messaging and sales effectiveness.
“Most communication is targeted to
the neocortex or the new brain,” Renvoise
says. “We develop logical sales messages
that are aimed at the neocortex, but they
have absolutely no impact on the old brain.
The old reptilian brain doesn’t understand
words. [For it] you’ve got to find a way to
illustrate. You have to create images and
tell stories that generate emotions. These
will have more impact and influence [on
the combined brain] than purely logical
appeals,” Renvoise says.
Now I’m not saying Renvoise is the only
neural marketer out there, but I like his
understanding of neural science and his
practical bent for helping marketing and
sales executives. He’s familiar with all the
primary texts on neural science, but more
importantly, he’s built a concrete model
and methodology that marketers and sales
leaders can follow to apply the raw ideas
of brain science to the practical business
of communicating, marketing, selling and
making profits.
Says Steve Tonissen, CMO of Lisle, Ill.-
based predictive analytics software provider
SmartSignal Corp.: “Patrick has synthesized
the neural science work and provided
a practical method to implement these
concepts in our business.
“The idea that you establish the customer’s
pain, differentiate your claims, measurably
prove the gain the buyer receives and
then deliver it to the ‘old’ brain—[that]
works for us. What makes them exceptional
is they help us identify a way to really stand
out,” Tonissen says.
Renvoise grew up in Paris and studied
computer science at the National Institute
of Applied Science, where he received his
master’s degree in 1983. After completing
his military service, he led sales for a
French electronics start-up.
In 1988 he was recruited by Silicon
Graphics to open its sales office in Toulouse,
where he gained experience selling to clients
such as Airbus, the European Space Agency
and Renault. His boss, Bob Bishop, then
president of Silicon Graphics International
and later the CEO of Silicon Graphics,
recruited Renvoise to work at headquarters
in Mountain View, Calif.
“[From] 1989 to 1995, we were the
Google of our day,” Renvoise says.
“Remember Jurassic Park, the movie?
All of the images were created on Silicon
Graphics’ machines. The landing gear of
the space shuttle was designed and simulated
on Silicon Graphics’ machines. The
same for the wings of Boeing jets and topof–
the-line BMWs.”
Renvoise managed international
sales and marketing at headquarters and
supported the international sales organization.
In 1996, Renvoise got bit by the entrepreneurial
bug.
He worked with three start-ups from
1996 to 2001, including Accom Inc., a
maker of real-time virtual television studios
that went public in 1996; Live Picture, a
maker of picture-editing software that was
headed by former Apple CEO John Scully;
and Linuxcare, a provider of customer
support services for Linux users that was
backed by Kleiner Perkins.
“All three of the ventures had great
technology,” Renvoise says, but that wasn’t
enough. They had to have marketing and
sales execution that moved buyers. It was
there that the ventures came up short. “If
you can’t explain the product and move the
buyer in a few words and images, it’s not
going to succeed,” he says.
Learning this lesson, Renvoise
co-authored Neuromarketing:
Understanding the “Buy Buttons” in
Your Customer’s Brain. He founded
SalesBrain almost by accident.
Renvoise had been interested in
the science of the brain and had
studied all the popular sales methodologies.
“Each [sales] method gave
me incremental advantage, [but] they
weren’t comprehensive and they didn’t
take into account the brain’s function.
They were teaching the art of selling
without scientific justification.”
“The people reading our book started
asking if we would consult with them.
Companies like Stratex (now Harris Stratex),
a microwave radio provider, came
to us and asked if we could translate our
ideas into programs. The rest is history,”
Renvoise says.
Renvoise’s advice to young marketers
and sales executives is to start by working
with the brain. “Truly put yourself in the
head of your customer. You can no longer
ignore the huge research that has been done
on the brain.”
“If I knew as a young marketer what I know
today, I would be retired,” Renvoise quips. m
Michael Krauss is president of
Market Strategy Group based in
Chicago, and can be reached at
Michael.Krauss@Mkt-strat.com or
news@ama.org
By Michael Krauss
win The brain game
“Put yourself in the head of your customer. You
can no longer ignore the huge research that has
been done on the brain.”
22
at c-level//vp marketingnews 12.30.09
viewpoint { at c-level }
Copyright of Marketing News is the property of American Marketing Association and its content may not be
copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written
permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
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