Disney and Neuromarketing
Have you ever wondered why every release Disney is always a great success, destined to enter history with huge profits as a result?
The answer seems to be there, and it’s called Neuromarketing, which is neuroscience applied to marketing.
Yes, the US multinational company has for years now become aware of the way the human brain works and uses it as a marketing tactic.
Disney Lab and Neuromarketing
The Disney lab was one of the first labs in which extensive Neuromarketing studies were conducted.
I still remember when a few years ago, the New York Times wrote an article about an alleged “secret” laboratory located in Austin where Neuromarketing researches were carried out.
Well, a lot has changed since then.
In the meantime, the company has obviously formalized the existence of the laboratory and its studies on neuroscience applied to marketing.
Today the lab consists of 8 rooms for research, all furnished in the living room or home offices, with parquet floors and soft lighting.
There is also a theater with 12 seats.
The premises, equipped with numerous cameras, are built around a central control cabin where the researchers operate.
Disney invests staggering numbers in research into marketing applied to neuroscience.
It obviously uses specific tools such as eye-tracking, EEG techniques, facial coding and others.
Emotions, characters, visual-narrative balance, mood and confidence
But, basically, what are the results of the research done in this lab?
Well, the answer is actually very simple: Disney plays with the emotions of the audience. And it does so excellently.
Think about it. Isn’t it true that Disney’s films make you laugh, cry, dream and sometimes frown?
Well, the colossus has built an empire on the capitalization of human emotions and reactions and calibrates the films accordingly.
Yes, Disney knows the parts of your brain involved with emotions and uses very specific tactics to ensure that the audience does not miss a release.
However, there are also other factors that contribute to Disney’s constant “emotional” success.
For example, focus on characters.
All Disney characters are built ad hoc, with a history passed behind well-defined.
Although sometimes the characters are not relevant to the outcome of the film, Disney knows that it is not only about story and final, but excellent characters with which the public can identify.
Another important feature is the balance between images and narrative.
Disney movies are visually stimulating with colors, graphics etc. and this helps to keep the audience glued to the screen.
Remember when we talked about Neuromarketing and color?
This means that the brain, in addition to story and important information, needs to be stimulated also visually.
We also know that mood is linked to learning.
This means that if you are in a positive mood, learning turns out to be easier.
Disney uses this theory and in fact incorporates humor in all of his films.
In this way, the audience leaves the movie theatres in an amused state of mind and will therefore preserve a good memory of the film.
Positive reviews grow and success is guaranteed!
And then there’s the question of trust.
Disney constantly builds trust with its users and makes it through products, services and messages.
This creates a positive expectation.
Viewers are confident (so trust) that their experience at the cinema will be enjoyable.
Inside Out and Neuromarketing
I’m sure after reading the lines above, you’ll be wondering in which of the Disney movies you perceived the Neuromarketing application.
Let me help you. Think for example at Inside Out, the animated film produced by Pixar and distributed by Disney some years ago.
The plot at the bottom is simple and refers to the title of the film:
It is the daily life of an eleven-year-old girl told alternately from the outside and inside of her mind.
I mean, a series of zooms show the interaction of five emotions inside Riley’s brain.
Here we go again with the emotions: joy, sadness, anger, fear and disgust.
For this successful film, director Peter Docter consulted extensively with the psychologist Paul Ekman, creator of facial coding that we talked about here.
The success of the film is due to the meticulous study and focused on the story and character, verbal and non-verbal language and emotions.
The characters seem real because they have emotions and consequently human reactions.
According to Alessandro Cellurale, manager of Disneymedia+, Inside Out tells the emotions with magic and incredible storytelling that distinguish the Disney heritage.
According to Cellulare, these are the values that create empathy with the public, they manage to reach it and, in fact, to excite it.
If you want to learn more about this topic, email me at mb@marcobaldocchi.com.