Not content with a rebrand and a move to our new office in the last 3 months, we also decided to host our first breakfast event, with special guest presenter Richard Shotton, on July 2nd at Manchester Art Gallery. 

It was only as we gathered in the Gallery’s atrium at 8am that the panic set in as we waited… willing, hoping, urging those who had confirmed their attendance would indeed show up to fill the room. Afterall, breakfast events always run the risk of being inconvenient for people!

In the end, we needn’t have been concerned because most of those who said they would come, did. And they seemed to benefit from the opportunity to learn more about how behavioural science can improve their marketing as well.  

The event was split into three parts. The first was a presentation from Richard Shotton, whose encyclopedic knowledge of the historical evidence behind how people behave was dispensed in his inimitable style, interspersed with real world examples of brands leveraging biases to influence behaviour. 

After a coffee break, (yes, even a breakfast event needs a coffee break) Greg Copeland took the floor to present how we have taken the plethora of biases, nudges and heuristics and simplified them into a framework (BE.CREATE) that is used to understand where the opportunities are for businesses looking to influence behaviour.  

He explained each of the seven overriding behavioural themes in the BE.CREATE model with real-world examples of how brands today are shaping behaviour. 

Finally, those at the event were challenged to consider if their current marketing efforts fitted in to any of the seven themes in the BE.CREATE model. 

So what did we learn?

  1. Behavioural science has been around for a long time, and it has substantial evidential research to back it up. 
  2. The BE.CREATE framework simplifies the world of behavioural science, providing opportunities to make creative more engaging and effective.
  3. Clients with little experience of behavioural science can use it to identify opportunities for compelling creative messages.

A big thank you to those who came, especially as it was an early start. We look forward to hosting the next one. Whether it’s a  breakfast event is open to debate!

 

What they said?

“It was really informative and made me want to find out more, and also I will endeavour to apply the techniques in my work”.

Helen Banks, Asics. 

 

“It was interesting to see how an agency applied the theory strategically for brands.”

Dean Harris, Coop

By James Ballinger

Senior Account Director