Hypnosis as a Marketing Tool

Hypnosis has been used as a way to entertain (stage hypnosis), as a way to heal disorders (medical hypnosis) and as a way to dominate and control others!

In a relatively new application, hypnosis is being used as a tool for “focus group” research by marketers. Perhaps it is only surprising that it has taken so long to be used as a publicly acknowledged tool for marketing! And it is catching on fast as more and more companies are rushing to get in on the new buzz marketing strategy.

Brandvisioning, for example, suggest that:

By accessing the subconscious mind of their consumer, marketers can gain new, and sometimes surprising information…..Hypnosis is the best way to get access to the deepest area of the consumer’s mind.

The twist, of course, is that there is no suggestion that the consumer is being controlled, here. Rather, hypnosis is being used to more accurately “mine” information from consumers.

What’s more, big businesses is spending serious money to use hypnosis this way. Companies like Volvo, no less, are relying on these techniques.

In a recent report, Keith Hein noted

Volvo equals safety. In focus group after focus group, participants said the same thing. So, Euro RSCG Worldwide, New York, did the obvious thing: It called in a hypnotist.

Members of these unique Volvo focus groups were asked to test-drive the car. Immediately afterwards they were hypnotized and asked their true feelings about the brand. It wasn’t pretty: Many revealed that Volvo also equals being middle-aged. That idea “for some people was suffocating,” said Michael Fanuele, head of planning at Euro. “Hypnosis helped get past the cliches. We needed the conversation to get to a deeper, more emotional place.”

In other words, hypnosis now offers a whole new way for doing market research!!