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Is behavioural science a fancy expression for marketing?
The psychology of selling and paradigm shift
If you used to watch Mad Men, you certainly remember the pitch to Jaguar. One of the best things about the TV series was the whole creative process until they found the right line and ideal illustration to make that memorable ad that would stick into the client’s imagery.
When preparing the pitch to Jaguar, Mad Men’s creative group had to think deeply on what was the motivation of the client. Jaguar was not only a symbol of status and a way to attract everything that a man could possibly want*, as it was extremely beautiful. A luxurious car owned by few, but admired by all.
The request of the client was that no women were used in the ad, as this would be a typical approach of a luxury car brand during the 60s. Creatives were puzzled with this condition as they had to think deeply on the motivations to purchase such a magnificent article. As they took their own client as a perfect example on the subject, they realised the behaviour was in accordance with what the underlying motivation to buy such a car would be: to own beauty or, in other words, to attract women. Now, the exercise that the group makes in order to understand this and achieve the Jaguar ad, is it marketing or behavioural science?
