Why cognition Matters:

Marketing is a broad term and has many channels, inside, outside, branding, advertising, customer service, offering, churn, new client acquisition and retention, calls to action and key target percentages as they relate to sales. To name a few, and believe me managing each of these is a challenge, a monumental challenge when you are a small business and a precision daily challenge when you can afford the implementation of a team.

One of if not the biggest issues in marketing is the blurred line of measured success. It is surprising, and to be completely honest, a bit of a mind scratcher when you see things working that your years of experience mock as the complete opposite of what is deemed adequate.

There will be times when you encounter a business that has sales, measurable and worth recognition. With a minor tweak in a channel, the business would multiply drastically.

Cognitive categorization is the simple key to marketing and to make this statement even more profound, it is the basis and should be the core of every marketer's every action. The human mind as sophisticated and amazingly powerful as it defaults to items naturally, for our well-being, all of which relate to how we have categorically placed things.

Good, bad or indifferent, every person has a category based perception mechanism that drives their decision-making process. Even though there is not a black and white guidebook ( I wish there were ) our role as marketing experts is to derive our recommendations and actions on what we have determined to be a zone where our impact will be the highest. The best return achieved by presenting the offering as close to the positive ( or negative in some cases ) categorical perception of the target customer is my ( our as marketing pros ) responsibility.

Our minds identify the smell of morning coffee with feelings of warmth, refreshment, revival and rejuvenation, which we learned from our first experience with Folgers. We tested the theory that the best part of waking up is Folgers in our cups, and now the feelings are autonomous. Game over. 

• Source Business 2 business commerce

When handled correctly categorization will result in subconscious relevant, beautiful and recognizable profit gain. When poorly treated you will lose out on benefits even if your perception of how the business is doing resonates as real.

The closer you can hone your offering to match the simplified basis of categorical cognitive marketing, the better off you will be. In working with Trampoline parks over the past three years, one item, in particular, would make the best example as it relates to this subject.

CHARGING BY THE HOUR:

Take a hard look at the trampoline industry, and you will find that every one of the parks ( at least to the best of my knowledge ) charges for their services by the hour. Now take a step back and think about this from a "categorical" perspective.

The mass perspective and how the majority of people have categorized paying by the hour is paying for time, yet when you look at industry norms, societal norms, time paid for is not necessarily a good thing. Lawyers, counselors, and psychologists are only a fraction of the items that have earned the primary position in buying time.

Now here is where it get's tricky, even though people will still pay to enter a trampoline park and pay 20.00 for an hour and a half, the result may justify the charge. What's not addressed, is that subconscious "uckyness" that occurs in the parent's mind when they weigh the value of 20 bucks vs. their kids having fun. My bet is the subliminal implantation is in fact negative thus the issues with churn that are so frequently common. 

Not to mention the overhead nagging resulting in their transaction shortly ending, Watching the clock will take precedence over the implantation of enjoying the experience passionately, as least as it relates to the decision maker who in this case is usually not the participant.

Anyone can take a look at Google and determine that the average stay is 2 hours, sometimes more, sometimes less and if the parks directly charged a nominal entry fee they would, in fact, get more return clients, and the transaction would not leave a negative footprint in mind. Bonus, they would get the customers who strongly identify this category and say no to be more likely to participate, thus the increase in sales I have been hinting at.

DeSoto's position is to evaluate every aspect of our client's world and try to determine how to speak on the simple basis of cognitive categorization. And yes, as simple as this sounds just like many other things in life it requires thinking at a level where the majority of people have no idea it even exists.

Take a step back and ask yourself if you are presenting your wares properly as it relates to the mind of your consumer, if not adjust it and I promise you will make more money!

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