Adam Morgan | Senior Creative Director, Adobe · “When making a decision and locking in a memory,...

Adam Morgan | Senior Creative Director, Adobe

SEVEN YEARS AGORussell Fisher asked me a question.

DO CREATIVE IDEASWORK BETTER?

Creative idea = Emotional

Do you place more valueON LOGIC OR EMOTION?

BETTER UNDERSTANDthe relationship between

LOGIC AND EMOTION

Antonio Damassio

EMOTIONS ARE NOT JUST ANIMAL INSTICTS.

Emotions are what makes us human.

SubconsciousFast

AutomaticEmotional

ConsciousSlow

CognitiveRational

Conscious only holds 4-7 variables.Subconscious holds the internet.

A LITTLE TEST

247 + 331 = ______

4397654

Now add one digit to each number

9.11.2001

“When our brain is doing its job at predicting our surroundings, our subconscious is in control. Only

when there is an error or something doesn’t match our predicted reality, does the conscious

brain kick in. Only then do we become aware and notice

the element that’s different.”

Dr. Scott Steffensen

IF WE FIND A MATCHwe feel a flood of emotion.

IF NO MATCH, WE NOTIFY THE CEOand make a new memory.

TO BURN A NEW MEMORYAnomaly detection + neurochemicals (emotions)

Emotion is critical in making memories.AND IN RETREIVING MEMORIES.

More emotion = stronger memory.Emotions are powerful.

Emotions represent a massive amount OF RATIONAL THOUGHT.

WHEN WE MAKE A DECISIONour brain is flooded with feeling.

“When making a decision and locking in a memory, emotions are everything. In neuroscience, there’s another expression, ‘Neurons that fire together, wire together.’ In other words, the more activity you have in a certain pathway, the more it becomes plastic. And that plasticity is mediated by certain neurotransmitters and chemicals—also known as the regulators of emotion. So when we make a decision, our brains are flooded with feelings.”

Dr. Scott Steffensen

Do you place more valueON LOGIC OR EMOTION?

CREATIVE and STRATEGYBRAND and DIRECTART and SCIENCERIGHT and LEFT

THE MARKETING GUTIS NOT DEAD

1. Get Noticed2. Be engaging = stickiness3. Be believed4. Be remembered = brand preference5. Loyalty

The Classic Pitch

1. Get noticed A. Under radar

B. Prefrontal cortex only

C. Whole brain lights up

The Neuroscience Pitch

1. Get noticed2. Sticky

A. We don’t retain everything

B. More brain activity,more chance to lock in

C. More emotions, moreneurons are trained

The Neuroscience Pitch

1. Get noticed2. Sticky3. Liked

A. Most influential variable is likability

B. Lock in a memory with emotion(positive emotional connection is best)

The Neuroscience Pitch

1. Get noticed2. Sticky3. Liked4. Remembered

A. More emotion = greater chance of retrieval = remembered

B. Retrieval of memory trace is now retention, not acquisition

The Neuroscience Pitch

1. Get noticed2. Sticky3. Liked4. Remembered5. Loyal

A. More traces burned into memory = more chances of positive emotions

B. Which means a greater chance of long-term plasticity. (in other words, trust and loyalty)

The Neuroscience Pitch

A creative brand voice?Or a straightforward one?

Emotional Rational

©Adam Morgan ReturnOnIdea.com

©Adam Morgan ReturnOnIdea.com

©Adam Morgan ReturnOnIdea.com

Attention spanand snackable content.

Virtual and private communities

Social networks

News aggregators

Passion connections

Video & audio connections

Websites

Thought leaders

Shallow discussions

Deeper discussions

How to measurecreative ideas.

How we measure today

ONLY LOGICFocus Groups Online Surveys

CrowdsourcingExperts

Why stories make us react

+Attention Emotion Action=

A simple way to measure

(Use data to establish triggers.)A. Insights

B. Create experience

C. Measure (Does experience hit triggers?)

(Anomaly + Empathy.)

Back to Russell’s question:Do creative ideas work better?

THANK YOU

Adam Morgan

email admorgan@adobe.comweb adamWmorgan.com/sydney

Q&A