What The Placebo Effect Can Teach Marketing
The placebo effect is fascinating, and still not fully understood by modern science.
"Wake a patient from surgery and tell him you’ve done an arthroscopic repair, and his knee gets better even if all you did was knock him out and put a couple of incisions in his skin. Give a drug a fancy name, and it works better than if you don’t.”
The ongoing research into placebos seems to be uncovering a genetic component - some people respond more strongly to placebos based on specific genes.
But there is another component of treatment that seems to influence the placebo effect - the feeling of being cared for. Even the ritual of meeting a medical practitioner and receiving attention can help.
"You don’t even have to deceive the patients. You can hand a patient with irritable bowel syndrome a sugar pill, identify it as such and tell her that sugar pills are known to be effective when used as placebos, and she will get better, especially if you take the time to deliver that message with warmth and close attention”
There is a close parallel in the relationship between brands and consumers.
Marketers often reduce the relationship to cold numbers. Market share %, sales growth, profit margins, LTV. But as consumers, we often stick to brands that we feel care about us. Sure we might try out the latest hot product or crave variety, but in the long-term, we want care and respect.
This is why underdog brands can do so well. Think of shave clubs with their message of “the big brands are ripping you off, but we think you deserve to pay a fair price.” Or the success of beauty brands (as different as) Glossier and Dove. Different products and target audiences, but both brands send the message that they listen to and care for their audience.
Even a brand like Apple, for all the technical superiority, could communicate that people deserved beautiful devices that are easy to use.
Does your company care about your customers? How do you make them feel respected and appreciated?
Quotes from here