a single source, nothing corroborates it

Reach for the senses the brain cannot ignore

Attention is biological before it is rational: food, faces and smell get processed whether the reader consents or not, so imagery can attach an association to a brand that no adjective would ever earn. Direct the gaze deliberately, at the reader or at whatever you want looked at, and show one unmistakable emotion. Sex is the exception that punishes brands which use it against what buyers say they want to see.

The method

1. 01

   Even if you sell nothing edible, borrow food and taste imagery to attach an association to the brand, since hungry brains lock onto it automatically.

2. 02

   If you only sell online, write the product description around smells, because the association does the work the product cannot.

3. 03

   Put human faces in the creative and direct the gaze deliberately: have the person look straight at the viewer or at your headline, button or product, and show one unmistakable emotion.

4. 04

   Do not assume sexualised imagery lifts sales: used badly it costs you customers, so follow what buyers actually say they want to see instead.

What it returned

• 96%

  Competing lingerie brands shifted to featuring real women while Victoria's Secret would not, and it shed 96% of its market value.

• Bourgoin's example: put caviar in the frame and viewers read the brand as luxury.

• Katelyn Bourgoin argues emotion rather than logic drives the bulk of purchase decisions, so an online-only seller can still reach for the same trigger through imagery and copy.

• Brands that push their people to the front are more memorable, per Bourgoin, citing Honest Co., NastyGal, the Refine Labs team and Steve Jobs.

Sources

• Attention - Why We Buy 🧠Katelyn Bourgoin · customercamp.co · 1: Food · undated
• Smell - Why We Buy 🧠Katelyn Bourgoin · customercamp.co · ​ Use “Flowery” Imagery and Copy · undated