Meeting consumers “in their dreams”
A brand’s goal shouldn’t be to infiltrate their dreams, rather to ensure the brand leaves a lasting and positive impression. The most effective way to achieve this is to tell stories that are profound and empathetic.
Universal themes that remain within the personal sphere such as family, a sense of belonging to a place or person, and losses and gains are more likely to stick in the mind. Well-crafted and powerfully acted stories strengthen consumers’ connection with the brand and position it naturally within daily life.
Consistently delivering messages through various channels strengthens the mental connection with the brand. However, it’s more beneficial to present these messages as a micro-experience rather than a bombardment.
Using sensory triggers together also supports memorability and increases impact. For example, presenting visually presented material with a catchy melody and a unique scent that fosters a connection with the product makes the product more easily remembered.
This is the primary purpose of creating product promotional videos, and even the music videos that are so prevalent on social media: to build connection.
You might consider enriching and customizing this experience with content that aligns with nighttime rituals, doesn’t disturb the user, and instead allows the brand to integrate into daily life.
Podcasts on specific topics, breathing meditations, end-of-day relaxation exercises, and playlists composed of light-tempo music are prime examples.
Targeted advertising and creating community rituals strengthen a brand’s perception in the consumer’s mind. Marketing communication activities are now built around campaigns that focus on how people feel when they use a product, rather than its rational benefits. Therefore, the work doesn’t end with a product sale; rather, it becomes about retaining customers.
Continuous content streams and series prepared in different formats help ensure that the brand becomes a part of life. When these activities are sustained and supported by other actions that yield measurable results such as recall, emotional association and repeat purchase, they can create a subconscious impact that is both effective and respectful.
The real question: Should we meet in dreams?
The most important question that needs to be answered is whether appearing in a dream is a real goal or not. It’s important to consider this from both perspectives.
If a brand has successfully entered a consumer’s dream, it has transcended the share of mind and acquired a share of subconscious. To put it more clearly, this means that a brand penetrates the consumer’s subconscious not only through a conscious act of remembering, but also in an emotional, symbolic and repetitive way.
Unconscious influences can influence real-world purchasing behavior because emotional connections and emotional cues can lead consumers to automatic choices; this is linked to a sense of comfort, a tendency to gravitate more toward familiarity.
Successfully penetrating dreams is a powerful testament to storytelling. When a brand manages to establish a relationship with the consumer’s identity, memories and sense of belonging, it ceases to be just a logical choice, also turns into an emotional choice.
Consumers who create this kind of bond with the brand begin to see the brand as part of their own story, become loyal to the brand, recommend it to others, and demonstrate their loyalty.
Dreams are a completely individual and internal journey, so everyone’s dream is different. Therefore, it’s unlikely that a brand or product will be placed in people’s dreams. Furthermore, since measuring data from dreams is technically impossible, it’s very difficult to quantify the impact of seeing a product in a dream on sales with precise and realistic data. Therefore, it seems more logical for brands to follow cues like recall and emotional associations rather than targeting dreams.
Interfering with the subconscious mind is a topic that has long been debated from an ethical perspective and has been problematic. Dreams are personal, directly connected to a person’s privacy and inner journey. The sudden appearance of a specific brand product in a dream can be described as manipulation, and not only can it become an object of desire for the consumer, but it can also undermine trust in the brand.
